Meet Edgar Allan Pony:
We fell in love with, and bought our Shetland Pony, Edgar, when he was a two-year-old colt. The idea was that the kids would ride him, but unfortunately, by the time he was old enough to be ridden, the kids were too big for him.
Edgar is a GREAT pony. Shetlands are tough, smart little ponies (the smallest of all the pony breeds) that originate from the Shetland Isles – a series of cold, windy islands off the northern coast of Scotland, and they were used for multiple purposes over the centuries. They hauled cargo, carried riders large and small, and were the famous “pit ponies” used in the coal mines in England and Scotland and later in the U.S. To me, they’re the terriers of the horse world. What they lack in size, they make up for in toughness, tenacity, intelligence and humor.
We used to bring Edgar into our house to have an apple in the kitchen with us. We used to have birthday parties for our animals and somewhere I have photos of Edgar, on our porch, wearing a party hat and eating cake at Sneaker’s birthday party. I decided to have Edgar trained to pull a cart and sleigh, as he was too small for us to ride and he needed something to do. A wonderful trainer named Stu came and taught Edgar to pull a cart. Edgar was a quick study and took it up instantly, trotting up and down our driveway with his jaunty rig in tow. I was not such a great student. Though I was taught, over and over, I could never rig the harness up correctly. I didn’t have the patience for it. So Edgar just hung around and started getting fat on all our grass in the field. Early one summer he developed a slight case of laminitis, which can come from too much grass, and not enough exercise.
Edgar Allan Pony needed a job.
And he found one with my friend Betsy at Corgi Hollow Farm. Betsy loves to drive and had been driving her pony, Tumbleweed, for years. More importantly, Betsy runs a program for special needs riders called “Pegasus,” from her farm, and she was in need of a pony for the little ones. So Edgar went off to live at Corgi Hollow and work with children.
In the photos at the top and bottom of this page, Edgar is all dressed up for the Pegasus Halloween party.
He considers all his young riders to be very precious cargo and is extremely careful when he works with them. Then, often, Betsy will take him out for a spin in the cart, which he loves.
Betsy’s dogs feel quite important being drawn in a sleigh:
He’s very busy as you can see, and when he’s not doing therapeutic riding with the kids, or driving with Betsy, he’s out promoting his book. It’s called, The Alphabet According to Edgar Allan Pony, and it’s just adorable. I wasn’t able to load photos from the book onto the blog. Maybe Betsy can provide us a link so you can all see little Edgar posing in a pair of big rubber boots on the page that says, “B is for Boots.” I believe the proceeds from the book go to the Pegasus Therapeutic Riding Program.
So that’s the story of Edgar Allan Pony, a good little pony who works hard, helps others and likes to dress up for parties. I know, he really belongs in Hollywood, but then he’d lose his innocent charm, which he has in abundance.
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How cute.
That answers my question earlier too if they enjoy their jobs.
Thanks Ann
Hi Ann,
It looks you are having a great autumn of riding and writing and good weather.
I am just writing to show you this new blog I have created (for the boatbuilding business Harold is in) but I thought you might enjoy it and wanted to send it along and welcome any feedback or expert eye! I also thought I could share a bit of Essex with you… Hope you have a great weekend…wishing you the best! Laurie
Ann:
Great story…
The thing I find amazing, due to your young age, is that you are considering having the pony back should you become a grandmother!!!. But, it would be a great thing for all.
On another tune, I found this book at this library by H. Allen Smith “How to Write Without Knowing Nothing” and I have been experiencing laughing fits. He is different alright and has a great command of words. Cacoethes scribendi, or the irresistible itch to write, he says. Unsure if that is a disorder, but it certainly resembles what I go through.
The book is available at http://www.pegasustr.org.
Check out that website, it describes the wonderful program and has a “meet the horses” page. Scroll down and you will see E.A.Pony, as well as Betsy Mdinger’s other pony, beautiful Tumbleweed, who looks like she’s wearing black eyeliner. I think Tumbleweed must be getting up there in age – my kids took lessons on her before Edgar was even born, and I don’t think she was a youngster then. I hope to age as beautifully as Tumbleweed!
I wonder if Betsy has ever tried to drive them as a team. Betsy?
I can’t seem to find the alphabet book. It would be a perfect gift for a friend’s two little guys. Edgar is just adorable. He looks so ‘in charge’ of his job.
The Alphabet book is available at Bevals Saddlery or from Pegasus Therapeutic Riding.
What a great little pony! Perfect name too!
My mini – Neeko is in training for driving, will be coming home in November. He also loves to work. Steve and I have been taking driving lessons too – first with the bigger horses – specifically Andalusians, and now with Neeko. Not much difference in driving – other than size.
Our trainer has a barn of Andalusians, a wonderful breed. They are so versatile, from classical dressage to marathon driving events, and everything in between. I guess it is a good thing that my acreage is small, or I would be adding a few of them to my family as well
Tracy, I think it’s self-published and will find out how you can order it.
Marnie, welcome and thanks for the memories of my first girlhood crush – Li’l Joe Cartwright. I actually had more of a crush on his black and white pinto horse. One of your brother’s friends must have been “Hoss”. How I wanted to live on that ranch in Bonanza.
I have read your blog for awhile (always entertaining) but have never commented – i guess that makes me a lurker! This post brings back memories of my childhood – we had a shetland pony too called spunky – we had him for years (he was like our dog) – he pulled the governess cart and sleigh – so much fun – about the only thing i could remember how to do when we harnessed him up was the traces – we lived in a suburb of boston where you didn’t see too many pony carts on the street! his stall was in the garage and a big field across the street was the pasture -but he did have another home with bigger and greener pastures a trailer-ride away. i remember him coming into our house and my mother having a fit – but the funniest use of spunky was when my youngest brother and sister (#5 & #6) played bonanza – of course my brother was little joe – and he made my sister be hopsing (sp) and his friends had the other “big parts”
I just looked for the book on Amazon, and even googled it, and can’t find it anywhere. Help!
Oh Ann, another post that truly touched my heart. Edgar Allan Pony is so special. I love that he has such a special job, and his book sounds wonderful. Candy, that’s a great idea; I’ll buy it for my friends’ daughters.
I can’t believe you brought him in your house for apples! lolol Did he ever go to the bathroom while inside? hehehe Please, do you have any pics of him inside? And pics of him at Sneakers birthday party, that would be wonderful.
We always had birthday parties for our pets. One year for our Cocker Spaniel Smokey, he was on the tail gate of our station wagon, party hat on, and he ate the cupcake, burning candle and all! lololol
In response to your question about his age, Candy, I think he’s about 11 or 12 now. I have his papers and can check. Small ponies often live up to 30 years, so I’m hoping to borrow him back from Betsy when and if I have grandchildren some day.
By the way,is he “Edgar” with his dress-up hats and “Eddie” with his baseball cap? Whatta guy!
Lynne
He’s so charming! I’m glad he has a purpose, too, and what a good one as a therapeutic pony.
I remember the first pony I sat on (and then rode for years to come). He was also a Shetland, named Chief. Chief lived to be over 40 and his owners (at a working ranch in upstate NY where we’d vacation) threw him a huge 40th birthday bash, it was fantastic! He was the horse (pony) that made me love them so much.
Candy, it takes me a while to reformat photos for blog. Has taken me days to do these. The best thing would be for you to post a link to the photos here in the comments – if you know how to do that, which I don’t. Or post them on the Ann Leary Facebook fan page, and then comment here that they’re posted and we’ll all rush over there for a look.
Ann, what a great story. How old is Edgar now if you got him for your kids? Love, love the pics, and I am going to look for the book to purchase for my friends’ children. I especially like the picture of Edgar pulling the little sled, that has to be fun. How often to you get to see the little fellow? Please look for the critter b-day parties, those have to be a bomb, would love to see them. Is there any way we can send you pics to post on the blog?
Have been lurking of late, but have LOVED, LOVED so many recent posts including this one. Thank you!
Completely adorable, Ann!
I LOOOOVE this post! Thank you, Ann!
(And enjoy the weekend, everyone!)
Lynne
We absolutely love Eddie. He’s such a little wise-guy!