From the Publisher – Special Friends

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14 – March/April, 2022

By Tom Grabe

This editorial was originally published in the May/June, 2001 issue of The Equine Chronicle. I stumbled across it the other day and thought it might be worth republishing since I think it helps us remember why we love all horses big and small.

Ponies. There isn’t one of us who hasn’t been profoundly influenced by a pony. For me, it was a one-eyed, dun-and-white pinto pony named King. My mom bought King for me when I was about seven or eight years old. He was about 14 years old at the time, and I would imagine I aged him about 20 years and 20,000 miles in the two years that I had him.

King was the neighborhood pony. My friends and I rode him everywhere. I took him down the road, to the pond, to the river, through the woods and–once in a while–to the shows. Now, these weren’t fancy breed shows. No, these were your run-of-the-mill open horse shows like the ones that are still held today at the local fairgrounds, church, or neighbor’s pasture.

Sometimes they were full-blown shows with halter, pleasure and speed events. Other times, they were just speed shows. You know, the one’s where they have barrels, pole bending, the flag race, the rescue race, the egg-and-spoon race, and any other event they could think up to test the skills of horse and rider. It’s kind of like playing poker with someone who makes jacks, aces and twos wild. You never knew what they might concoct for that evening’s entertainment. It didn’t matter, though, because I would be there with King as my mount.

Click here to read the complete article
14 – March/April, 2022