That Should Have Been My Pony!

Sometimes life isn't fair, we all know that - here's an example:

About a year ago, I popped on Facebook to find a picture of a cute little pony with a caption from my cousin saying "Meet the new member of our family!".  I immediately call her up to see what this is all about.  She does not ride, her kids don't ride (2 and 1 year old).  She grew up across the street from a hunter/jumper barn and never had any interest in horses.  So I had to find out how a pony entered the picture.

Turns out her dad (my uncle) decided to buy it for her kids (again 2 &1).  He's keeping it at his place and the pony (a miniature Shetland to be more accurate) came with a saddle and bridle and everything.  Now my uncle also never had interest in horses, that I know of.  I do know he's never owned or ridden one.  So as I talked with my cousin I gave her some tips to pass along to my uncle, you know, get a vet out, make sure to keep her feet trimmed, and don't change her feed from what the previous owner suggests unless the vet says to.  My husbands family lives nearby so I promised to come by the next time we were in town (we live in CO they live in FL so its not a quick trip).

We we visited a month or so later I came bearing State Line Catalogs.  The pony was  adorable, a little miniature Shetland chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail.... just what I pictured when I used to wish for one, all she was missing was a pink bow in her hair.  (Only mildly jealous at this point.) 

I gave my uncle a few lessons on how to pick up her feet, saddle her and bridle her.  Although after working with 16 and 17 hand (even 15 hands for that matter) horses, this 10 hand horse proved to be quite a challenge.  I'm not used to having to buckle things up so low.  The first thing I noticed was that the bridle did not fit at all, she had a teeny tiny head and even at the tightest settings the bit knocked her teeth.  But since no one was going to be riding without a lead line for a while (ahem... 2 &1 ) I told him to forget the bridle and just use the halter.

We then took the 2 year old and plopped him on the pony and I lead him around while people took pictures.  This is where the jealousy started to set in.  While my cousins son was enjoying himself, he wasn't as ecstatic as I would have been.  He didn't even ask to ride the pony we just told him to.  He never asked for this pony, he didn't dream about it every Christmas eve.  Heck, he's 2!  He hadn't had the chance to want a pony, but here he is riding along on his very own pony!  And because he got this pony before he even knew he wanted one he may never really want or appreciate it.... so unfair.

Disclaimer:
I'm not really upset my cute little cousin got a pony when I didn't.  I think it's great that they have the land and ability to do these things.  And even if he doesn't ride it, I know he loves giving his 'ony carrots.  And I know that I have nothing to complain about, I got my first lesson when I was 7 and my first horse when I was 12.  Not many little girls who dream of ponies can say that.  Its just fun to rant some times.