Tally Ho

All parents must worry about doing the best for their children,i always felt so guilty that I couldn,t offer you the same wonderful experiences and opportunities I had. When you were very small,you would come down with Dad and totter about as I tacked up and went riding.At 2 you could just about sit up without sliding off and you had to be led about before I could go off.On my return you,d happily walk underneath them,get swished in the face my muddy tails and helpfully drag the saddle on the ground "helping"me clean.I dont know about nature/nurture,but you evidently were extremely confident and very keen to ride.When we let you have a pony to ride properly and not just in an arena was a day we,ll never forget. For some reason your Dad just didn,t have the same confidence and kept either being bitten or leaving his feet somewhere to get trodden on.Any way you tacked by yourself ,sort of and mounted up ,we were going out together for our 1st ever hack,I was thrilled and very proud.You allowed Dad to lead you out of the courtyard just until we,d cleared the cars and through the gate,we agreed to escort you to the safety of the paddocks and to the big fields. So far so good,for the 1st minute or so you did very well and did as you were told,but like your Mum you dont have 2nd gear.I saw you give that crafty wack and all of a sudden you were a grey streak ,your Dad nearly fainted and I called out and took off after you. You called out "its ok i,ll hold on",I never saw your Dad run so fast in my life.Eventually the field ends with a big gate,which leads off to the highway. Within a few moments that lasted forever I caught up with you and grabbed the bridle and we slid to a halt and then you promptly fell off.Dad picked you up made sure you were ok and then smacked your backside,out of sheer shock. Your little face was flushed with adenalin and the sheer joy of it ,you never looked back