The gray pony thing..

Somewhere along the line, the universe decided my life was not complete unless there was a gray pony in it. Unfortunately for all the gray ponies in my life, they have big shoes to fill.

Not literal big shoes, as Nylar was about the closest thing to an actual pony that a 5'6" teenage girl was going to get. If he was 15.2, it was a really good day for him, and I was forever having to put knots in halters and punch holes in nosebands in order for them to fit his head properly.

But there was never a more perfect first horse. Everyone knows that quote from Corinthians - "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." Nylar was pretty much that definition of love. Except for the delighting in evil part, which he did on a fairly regular basis. Especially if there were dogs around that needed to be given a knockdown. But patient, protecting, keeping no record of wrongs? That was my gray pony to a "T."

He was the first horse I ever showed through an entire season, the first horse I ever took into the 3' ring, the first horse I won a year-end award with. I learned to clip and braid properly on him, and he's the reason I can turn out my current gray horses as well as I do.


We parted ways when I went off to college, he moved on to one of my friends, I moved on to other (not-gray) horses. When he came back into my life 3 years later, it was supposed to be so that my parents, aunt, and I could retire him the way that he deserved. He never did retire though, after a winter of good grain, all the hay he could want, and some careful maintenance of his arthritis, he went back to work full-time. He was the cornerstone of my lesson program when it started in 2003, horse showed until 2006, and was on his way into the barn for a lesson the day that the EPM symptoms appeared in 2009.


And right until the last moment, he was patient and kind (but still delighting in evil). He pushed through for 6 weeks while I said my goodbyes, ground-driving around the farm on his good days and just hanging out in his stall on the bad ones. He had a stall guard instead of a door and would pretend to attack anyone who happened by at the wrong moment. He even took one last gallop the day before the vet came, sans halter and with people chasing after him.


So Dundy, Nobu, and all the other gray ponies in my future, there's what you have to work for. Although, you know, if you wanted to skip the delighting in evil part, we'd probably all be okay with that. ;)