Pony's new rider is MIA...

So, I know that I mentioned that someone wanted to lease the pony. Awesome, right? Yeah... that was a few weeks ago and I haven't heard squat since.

But really, would it be such a bad thing if I had to hang on to her forever? I adore this pony. I am secretly coveting her as my next dressage project. (Okay, Stretch technically is my "dressage horse," but wouldn't the cute white 13.2h pony be a fun little side project??)

Last night I decided to ride her. She needed to be ridden anyway, and she was such a saint for Potential Buyer that I was... well, I was inspired. The once-crazy Drama pony who once-upon-a-time wouldn't let anyone lead her without, well, drama had somehow transformed into a nice, well-behaved packer.

Okay, I'm not sure that she is truly a packer. The girl who wanted to try her told me that she was roughly an intermediate rider. I think the pony can handle intermediate. I think. At least she wasn't a beginner, right? WRONG. This girl didn't even know how to put a halter on. She did swear up and down that she has ridden before, so against my better judgement I let her climb aboard.

At first the pony was all, "WTF is this? Why is there someone strange on me?" and then she got a wide-eyed look, as if she was telling me, "Ooooh, I see. She is clueless. That means... *gulp*... I have to be in charge??"

The Pony, bless her heart, is very submissive and always low horse on the totem pole. She is highly trainable because of that. She just naturally wants to please whomever is in charge. The person on her was definitely not in charge, and they both looked a little lost.

After a bit of convincing, Drama reluctantly walked forward. Until Possible Buyer became a bit wobbly, and then Drama froze. Good pony. PB wanted to trot at some point during the ride, and Drama soundly said, "Uh, no, notsomuch." (This from the pony whose favorite speed is "go.") I was impressed. This pony does have a sense of self-preservation. She was downright cautious with this rank beginner and was absolutely saintly on a loose rein.

So fast forward to last night (sorry, I de-railed). I decided to ride Ms. Saintly Pony (whom, by the way, can definitely tell when it's me up there because she no longer feels the need to be cautious). It was windy last night. Like, really windy. The type of windy that leaves tree branches scattered across the roads. Why I felt the need to ride my most spooky equine in the middle of a violent wind storm is somewhat beyond me. I've definitely made smarter decisions in my life. But heck, I had a whole new outlook on the pony! She was GOOD! She just packed a beginner around like the girl was instead a Faberge egg balanced precariously on her back! Surely a little wind would be no match for my New and Improved Pony!

Riiiiight.

She was pretty convinced that Chupacabra was trying to get in the barn to eat us both. After several spin-and-bolt attempts (too bad for her I am damn good at riding those out now) I finally got her working on a 20m circle at the far end of the arena- away from the gate and the pony-eating Chupacabra. After she settled down a bit I called it a night and quickly got off, thanking God that I lived to blog about it today.

Reformed pony, my ass.

I still really want to keep her, though.