Lemon Drop

I just found some pictures from last spring of my daughter Jane's last horseshow on her pony, Lemon Drop (barn name: "Dickens").

Jane rode Dickens for almost three years. He took her from the walk-trot division when she was only five years old, all the way through the short stirrup division.

Dickens was the absolute best first pony imaginable. He taught Jane how to switch her leads, jump, and get around a show ring. My son, Elliot, rode Dickens in his first shows when Elliot was only three years old. But Dickens iss elderly (about 17 now), and can't do the bigger jumps that Jane's ready for, so now he's been passed on to another little girl and is teaching her how to ride.

Jane's working really hard with the new small, green pony we've gotten for her to show this season, but he's a bit of a struggle, making us appreciate good old Dickens all the more.

I think that every pony a child rides along the way teaches her something different. My first pony, Missy, taught me not to take her for granted. If I jerked on her mouth or tried to work her too long or too hard, she would simply dump me off. But if she liked the way I was riding, she'd jump any fence, wade through any creek, and run as fast as I asked her to.

But I digress...

Dickens really did play a big role in turning Jane into the rider she is today, at age 9. I wish we could clone him.