MEETING TONKA

 

Meeting Tonka

"You have to buy my pony", she said to me.

"I can't afford to buy another pony." I told her.

"You can trade me for dog grooming", she replied dismissing my most recent rejection. It wasn't the first time she had asked me to buy her pony, and it wasn't the first time I said no.

There were two Tonka's on her farm. Old Tonka and Fast Tonka. Fast Tonka, was a 9 year old Shetland pony crossed with a mini. He was fast, strong, and needed a home that would him to work. I loved working small ponies so I was a good fit for him, but was he a good fit for me?

Finally I agreed to go meet him, and drove out to her farm on sunny afternoon the week before my 23rd birthday.

The boards of paddock fence ran parallel to the long driveway. It was easy to see how he could crawl between boards and help himself to what ever side of the fence he felt the grass was greener.

Standing a whole 10 hands high, his copper colored coat glistened in the sunshine, his flaxen main was thick and full. He looked very much like a Shetland pony on smaller.

I already had a Shetland pony I thought to myself as a looked the little pony up and down. There was no way I was going to be able to drive him in a team with either the ponies. That would leave me with 3 different sized small ponies and no team.

Deciding to test the little pony's temperament anyway, I caught him and put brought out the harness. It was the small black nylon harness I had been using on my mini Cody, and the first harness I ever bought.

Fast Tonka hadn't been handled much but he was easy enough for me to catch. I slid the halter onto his nose, bending over to accommodate his short stature. Then I did up the the buckle behind his ear.

Dropping the rope on the ground I simply expected him to ground tie despite knowing he had never been ground tied before. He took to it well and stood, mostly I think out of confusion and curiosity.

He allowed me to continue putting on the pieces of the harness. There was no fussing or flinching when I did up the cinch only a little tail clamping when the shock of a cold crupper brushed against the sensitive skin under his tail.

Pressing my thumb and forefinger into the corners of his mouth I asked him to take the bit, he did so without hesitation, and allowed me slip on the rest of the bridle.

Nothing seemed to phase him, not even the blinders.

He had exceeded my expectations. There was no fussing or objection, just curiosity.

Attaching the lines to the bit I decided to see how far curiosity would take us. This little pony had never experienced anything like this before. Little did we know that 20 years later we would still be playing with curiosity together.

 

This story is from the book Horses of My Life and How They Shaped Me. Want to learn more about this book? Click Here