A lesson pony

[Chisamba]

You are is a lesson pony
Not too fancy, more inclined to take it easy than to show off,
You have shown countless people how to ride, forgiven their poor balance
Tolerated their learning aids.
You patiently waited till someone found their half seat before taking the jump,
You lovingly found the dirtiest mud and manure pile to roll in after her bath
Before the show.
Once you got really excited at the show an jumped the whole course at the canter, when your rider really wanted to slow down and trot,
You said, I know what I am doing, and away you went, while the reins flapped
With your little rider hanging on to the mane eyes huge and mouth open wide,
And you finished with a cute little finishing circle and came to me and said
See, I can do it if you just let me.
I also remember well the day,
Little person trying to do showmanship
The arena was grass
What pony is going to do showmanship when they can bury their face in grass? You said
And the poor child had no chance,
Grass you ate.

Then one day you came in looking not quite right
Hard to say what was wrong,
But no questioning the worry in your eye.
you are just a lesson pony
But I love you
I took the call today,
solemn
And you have cancer, must have had it for a while
Never showed it
Bore it with the patience that you bore all those little bottoms bouncing on your back
Do not worry my sweet old lady
I will keep you a comfortable as I can
And when I can no longer, I will let you go as kindly as I can,
Eat now,
Eat the green grass you were denied when you used to get fat on air
As I brush you, and untangle your tail, I will not complain,
you can roll in the mud and manure
Enjoy the sun
And the fall weather
And apples ,
I will bring you more apples
Forgive my tears in your neck
As you so often forgave those little legs kicking, and bouncing bottoms
There has to be a very special place in heaven
For just a lesson pony.

[westisbest]

Yes a very special place. And for those that love them care for them and make sure that they are comfortable in their time of need.

[Dapple Field]

Hugs to the sweet lesson pony and you.

[PaulaO]

Thank you, sweet lesson pony. May you live out your life eating grass an rolling in manure. Enjoy every minute.

[Amado]

Oh. This made me cry. What a sweet looking pony. And a wonderful tribute.

[onetrickpony]

That is a really beautiful, bittersweet tribute, chisamba. I am crying for you. And I am so sorry for this diagnosis.

[orono]

An incredible tribute to a beloved pony. Thank you for writing it. I'm sorry for your upcoming loss. Hugs and carrots to the tolerant girl.

[chantal]

Tears, just tears. But I am fragile right now.

Beautiful and fitting tribute. I love lesson ponies, they have a special place in my heart. I will ride one whenever I get the chance as they all have something to teach.

[Josette]

Tears here too. All lesson horses and ponies should have such caring owners.

[Chancellor]

What a lovely tribute Chisamba!

[Chisamba]

As Chantal said emotions are fragile, and with me carries over into other interactions.

[Code3]

What a great tribute. Thank you lesson pony and chisamba.

[LeoApp]

Good lesson ponies are so very special. Beautifully written tribute chisamba. I am very sorry about the diagnosis.

[texsuze]

Trying to locate the emoticon for tears, but having a tough time. My vision is blurred with my own tears.



Thank you, good lesson pony.

[Canyon]

It sounds like she took very good care of your students. I am glad she has someone as kind and wise as you are, to take care of her now. Hugs to both of you.

[hoopoe]

Do not read at work

frantic search for Kleenex

[PNG_Pony]

I'm tearing up too; thank you Chisamba!

[amygdala]

It sounds like she took very good care of your students. I am glad she has someone as kind and wise as you are, to take care of her now. Hugs to both of you.

canyon said it better than i ever could. {{{{chisamba}}}}

[Chisamba]

i just stood and groomed her for an hour today, as she munched on some hay, she nickered to me when i came, other than that she is not doing well, its so hard to know exactly when is a good time, and i am hoping she can 'tell' me. its a part of horse stewardship that is very difficult.

[Logan's Mom]

We do the best we can for them. She will let you know. Hugs from central NJ

[M&M]

Beautiful and heartrending.

[Kelo]

I'm so sorry Chisamba

Bless you, sweet lesson pony.

[boots-aregard]

i just stood and groomed her for an hour today, as she munched on some hay, she nickered to me when i came, other than that she is not doing well, its so hard to know exactly when is a good time, and i am hoping she can 'tell' me. its a part of horse stewardship that is very difficult.

It's one of the very hardest parts. You are up to the task though. It is a gift you can give her.

[Pippigirl]

Damn Chisamba that's rough. What a sweet tribute to a very sweet lesson pony Bless her heart!

[Paints]

You made me think, with gratitude and love, of the wonderful lesson ponies that taught me so many years ago.

She will tell you when she is ready and you will not miss her message. Thank you for caring so much for this sweet pony.

[Chisamba]

As an update, i thought i had a couple of months before things got bad, but I came home and she nickered and wobbled over, she has been neurologic, which was the first clue that something fierce was wrong. anyway, she wobbled over and i offered her slices of apple i brought from the tree near the barn. she eagerly took a piece and could not eat it. she kept dropping the apple and i realized that she was unable to make her tongue work properly to eat it. i carefully watched her eating for a while and noticed that she was dropping half her chewed grass, and occasionally her tongue seemed to get between her teeth. her head was slightly tipped and her ear was cocked.

i am not exactly sure what happened, did she have a small stroke? was there a tumor in her brain? How did it come on so very quickly? i stook and groomed her for an hour, and made her comfortable and then we put her to sleep, my lovely neighbor dug a hole so that she could be buried, and not have the indignity of being carted off to the dump.

I work in rescue, and i have a palliative care retirement home for horses with incurable issues, so I get to face this task far too often. This one has been very difficult, I was blindsided by the severity of the diagnosis. i was not even worried at the first sign of symptoms. She was not supposed to be one of the incurable ones. it was supposed to be something i could fix. and then when i could not fix it, i was supposed to have time to get used to it. God knows how long she has been tolerating discomfort without telling me, how could i have missed it?

anyway, she has gone on to greener pastures. I was left to tell the kids at their last 4H meeting. all i could manage was a blunt emotionless little announcement about how it was best that she no longer be suffering, and then i left. looking back, i am sure it would have been better to let them see me cry, but I did not.

[Canyon]

I'm so sorry, Chisamba, that her condition deteriorated so quickly.

It sounds like she had a very good life with you. And you were there for her in the end.

{{{{{Chisamba and students}}}}}

[Tarlo Farm]

Oh boy.

Not a week! I'm so sorry, hugs to you and she'll be fine now. So sorry.

[Kyra's Mom]

I am so sorry. It came on fast but she did indeed tell you. No need to second guess. My last dog was very much the same. You do the best you can (and did).

{{{{HUGS}}}}''

Susan

[LeoApp]

[Tuddy]

I just read this, I am so sorry for your loss. Hugs.

[Snork]

I am so sorry chisamba. I know that we miss them all and it is never right or the right time but in my experience these sudden deaths that are not trauma related are the worst because of the torture of trying to look back to see what you could have missed, which in no time in your head turns into what you must have missed and then it is all just one big ball of sorrow and guilt where no guilt need to be. You can drive yourself crazy with grief that way (I know, I've been there) so when you start down that path just remember to be kind to yourself. I have no doubt that you did the absolute best you could for her, and while hindsight is 20/20 it is also completely useless. ((((Hugs)))))

[gypsy still flies]

Sorry for your loss. She sounded like a great pony. Your original post and follow up made me cry. There really is only so much we can do for them.

[SandTikiFire]

Sorry for your loss

[PaulaO]

I am so so sorry.

[snftrs2]

Tears. What beautiful writing. I'm so glad you were able to spend extra moments loving up the pony.

Your students will know how much the pony's passing affected you, never fear. You sound a bit like my childhood riding school teacher. We knew how much she cherished every single school horse. I still see her and we reminisce about all the wonderful school horses.
{{chisamba}}. RIP sweet pony.