My First Pony

I started riding when I was 8 years old, thanks to my aunt but it wasn't until I was 12 that I finally had my own pony.  Cocoa was really dark bay/brown and a similar size to Tommy at 14.1hh, he had a white slipper and a lovely white stripe!  He was about 9 years old when I had him and the yard where I kept him was like a dream yard x
 

He was a riding school pony and stayed on working livery when I first had him.  He looks like butter wouldn't melt in this picture but he could be a real monster.  He was difficult to leave tied up as he often jumped at something and then either broke the string, rope or his headcollar - whichever broke first when he pulled back.  He did slowly get better at this but I never went far from him if he was tied up.  He was really difficult to load and sometimes a NIGHTMARE to catch as he would run around you in a circle just out of reach!

However, the reason I wanted him in the first place was because I was out on a group hack one day and as we were hacking up a driveway next to a stubble field one of the horses decided to gallop off up the field.  He was quickly followed by every other horse on the ride, except Cocoa, in my eyes at the time that made him pretty much perfect. 

He looked incredibly smart when plaited up and I was always really proud to be riding him.  We used to help out at the local one day event running the fence sheets to control (before they replaced horses with quad bikes) and he was always really good.  He could be a bit slow but it was possible to get him going and he had a buck if he was excited.  

He could spin around on the spot in half a second if he saw something that he wasn't sure of and I ended up on the floor a few times but it helped me develop good stickability! We had some lovely hacks and I always felt safe on him.  He had a lovely jump, when he wanted to and that took some work because to start with he would just refuse everything, but he got better.

He was lovely to look after and I think, looking back, how lucky I was to have such a lovely pony, sadly he broke the sesamoid bones in a front leg when he was about 17 yrs old and had to be put down, but he got to meet Chesney first. 

I didn't know his breeding although looking at him now I think he had some New Forest in him (see picture below of a New Forest pony).

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Until next time!   

Jo