Back on the Pony

Living out in the country as we do, horses are all around us. Many of our friends live on farms and own horses, cattle, chicken and other livestock. What I'm getting at is, that in these parts, climbing up on a horse before you know your times tables is considered normal.

My husband and I grew up in very different places, me the DC suburbs (PG County - holla!) and him in California and later Hawaii. Neither of us had much experience with horses so when our 6 year old daughter began begging for riding lessons, we were afraid. Very afraid.

"How about ballet? Art class? Soccer? Tee-ball? Macramé?", we pleaded.

No dice. She wanted to ride.

My baby, my youngest, the last of my children got up on her first pony one month after she turned 7 years old. It was "the best day of her life", she later told us.

And yes, we made her wait a year. We had to be sure she was serious. This is a dangerous and expensive hobby, for goodness sakes! Besides, her whacked parents needed the proper time to envision and stress over all of the horrific things that could possibly go wrong.

Luckily, the lesson went well and the next year passed blissfully riding without incident.

That was until she fell off.

She fell forward over the pony in slow motion and landed on her side. I can still see it in my head all these months later.

Thank God she was alright. Thank God she was wearing a helmet. Thank God it wasn't a bad fall. Thank God she landed safely in the sand. Thank God the pony didn't freak and step on her. So many Thank Gods...

Now as a mother, when something like this happens, what do you do? Of course, you grab your child from the ground, cradle them in your arms, run like hell to the car and speed off out of sight, never to be seen around anything ever again that can harm a hair on your child's head. Right?

That's what I wanted to do and I was half way there when the instructor pulled me aside.

"She needs to get back up."

"What? You mean on the pony? The pony that just THREW HER OFF? The pony that just tried to KILL her?"

"Kimberly, it wasn't the pony's fault and your daughter isn't hurt. She lost her balance and tumbled off. It happens. If she doesn't get right back up there, she may not ever want to again. I've seen it ruin riders."

I tried to breath deeply. I tried not to well up as I looked at my daughter, my baby, and asked her what she wanted to do. Surely, she was ready to go home? We could snuggle on the couch and watch television...where it was safe.

"I want to try again, Mom", she said as she wiped the tears of fear from her cheeks.

My courageous, tiny daughter was bound and determined to do something she was passionate about and so she mounted that damn pony and rode again. I was never more proud of her in all of her 8 years than on that day. And never more frightened.

My daughter went on to show the pony last summer. Here you see her clutching her many ribbons while I communicate the look that only a mother would recognize.

Don't you dare F with my child. Do you understand me?

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Kimberly lives in Petroville where she lives and writes daily.
This post is an original DC Metro Moms Blog post