My Little Pony part 2

Yesterday my post was about the little pony that came into my life via one of my goddaughters. I talked a bit about her size and tried to show how tiny she really was by comparing her to another goddaughter and finally to my Shazam/Niki. But I didn't tell you much about her and how much I came to love her.

Here is Candy by herself on the lawn at the first place where we lived together, me and two dogs, can't remember how many cats, and three mares - one of them this little gal. She often had to be on my lawn and not out in the big field with the other two mares because at one time she had foundered. This meant that her feet were really sore a lot of the time, and if she ate any delicious fresh spring hay, it would make it much worse. I used to find her curled up on the hay in the snow like a big dog some days that first winter we were together. But I learned it was she loved to snooze curled up.

And while I worried when she first came and the big mares drove her away, they adopted her after about a week and then she never minded being on her own in my garden. She knew by then she was getting a privilege that the others were only allowed once in a while when my lawn needing trimming.

As I limited her diet she became more comfortable. When we moved to another farm near Port Hope, Ontario she went with me (my promise to all my horses has been they would never know another owner and the pain of being separated from companions. Candy became quite a bossy boots with the two equestrian centre rescues Mr. B and Commander (Coco) who eventually landed in my barn. She would chase them around, seeming to be glad that someone else was at the bottom of the pecking order.

I have seen mini horses the same size as her - she was that tiny - and she had a pony mind-set which is quite different from horses. She was often stubborn, crochety and always hungry. She would boss the big boys out of the way to get at me for carrots or apples which I often carried in my pockets. It was funny to see this little animal chasing away the geldings, who always ran at the sight of her bared teeth or when she turned around to try to kick them. Courageous and adorable - that was my little Pony.