Putting the Cart before the Donkey..er Pony...

As some of you know, I very much wanted a Donkey and Cart.  I blame Argent!  I love a long ears no matter what size or shape, and most especially a long ears of the Donkey variety.   My son *B____ used to call Mules and Donkeys "Bunny horses."  when he was very little, due to the long ears.  :)

http://www.museum.oldpicturepostcard.co.uk/donkey-cart.htm

I casually mentioned that I wanted a Donkey and Cart while on the phone with Michael, as we were on the phone, I was browsing Craigs list for said Donkey and Cart.  I stumbled across a Pony and Cart...hmm, close...

Michael said to call them.  Now, Michael knows me very well, he is aware of my hideous horse/pony/donkey addictions.  He certainly knows better than to be an enabler by saying things like "Call them."  but he did it anyway.  Shame on you Michael!  Personally, I think he gets a kick out of hearing me squeal like a little girl when I am excited.  Then again, it was late and he had other things (like sleep and Fairy Princesses) on his mind when he said to call them.

Call them I did.  Somehow by the magic of all that is in the Universe, Michael found time to go look at the pony and cart, we took my son.  We had a nice trip, we saw the little black pony that is "really difficult to catch" and the man hooked him up to the cart for us.  We took a little trip in the pony and cart.  I let Michael drive.

He was hooked.  We have a pony and cart!

Our Pony and Cart

*B_____ and I drove pony and cart all the way to the small local store (about 3 miles away.)  We had the best time ever!  Big burly men in pick up trucks would stop, roll down their windows and say "Man, oh man, that's the coolest thing I have ever seen."  Business men would wave and smile and say "You don't see that every day."  We met our darling neighbors on the way and they they chatted to us like we had known each other for years.  Little children rode by on their bicycles and waved and several wanted to pat the pony and asked where we were going.  One little girl was so excited that she jumped up and down with her hands clasped in front of her chest yelling "Oh Mommy! Mommy!  It's a pony! A real pony!  It's right here in the street! Oh Mommy! Come and look Mommy!"

We saw the old Church that is closed for repairs up close and it's even more awesome up close like that, we saw squirrels and thanked God when the barking dogs were behind a fence.  Pony was not phased by any of it.  The dogs, squealing little girls, big pick ups, combines in the fields, other horses in nearby pastures prancing wildly, and calling out to us...none of this changed pony's little trotting gate or gave him pause in any way.  He had a grand time.  *B____ even drove for a spell.

"Pony"

Upon arriving to the store, I discovered that when I reached into my pocket for the phone, I had also pulled out my $10.00 bill and lost it somewhere along the way.  Ah well, perhaps we will find it one day.  Luckily I had other money in my other pocket... (It's a habit I have, I'm like a squirrel, I stash money in all manner of pockets and cubbies and whatnots: that way I always have a few dollars even when I think I'm out of money)  Besides, it wouldn't be a certified Windy Hill adventure without some sort of mishap now would it?

Having a pony and cart leads to all sorts of other things that I didn't necessarily think of when I was on my little Pony and Cart rainbow ride.  Things like myself building a stall in the barn for the precious little guy to stay in.  The fences are built so high up that he would walk right under them, he can't live in the round pen forever..not with a training horse coming and I need the round pen!

This calls for myself and my son (who happens to be the son of a great carpenter) <<<<that is important information.   As we all know I am a girly girl, I don't know the first thing about building a stall.

My dream stall...looks mysteriously familiar...hmmm

So, here are some notes.

• Lumber needs room to ride in your Auto.  A cute hybrid will not accommodate real lumber. 
• Stalls need latches, hinges, screws, staples and more wood.  

Hmm, I asked my carpenters son ...son...what he thought.  After thoughtfully looking at our choices, and chastising me just one more time for not bringing the pick up truck like a normal person, he chose some materials and off we went. 

Now, for the stall building portion of this little venture, my son was not home, this meant I had to figure it out for myself.  Pony watched anxiously from the corner of the barn.   Somewhere in my head, I do know that you should make the door/walls etc. on the floor and then put them up.  For the life of me, I couldn't see how you could get things positioned and nailed and looking like a stall like that.  So, I went about it all wrong  and put it up as I went.  As I went along,  I was getting the picture of how to do all of this on the floor first.  Too late!  Things were nailed and hinged and screwed up already.  Why staples?  I knew you would ask.  I'm using a screen type material for the door.  He is only a small pony and wont be pushy, he just needs a block is all, and the size of lumber I would have needed would not fit in the accursed hybrid.   The mesh screen is stapled to the lumber.  

I got it done.  Pony has a stall.

Pony got out of the stall two days later by going under the mesh just as my son predicted would happen.  Never doubt a carpenters son!    

Took me 20 minutes to capture very difficult to catch pony.  He is young, he wants to run and play.  I let him play in the round pen while I figured out how to fix the stall.  I located some longer wood that was left over from shipping crates.  Wish I had thought of it earlier.  Fixed the stall.

I am so happy and grateful for the many fun hours behind the reins that Pony is sure to provide my son and I  as we trot along in our cart behind our steady little pony.  His official name here at Windy Hill is indeed pony.  The man we purchased him from called him about 15 different things (some of them not so flattering)  in as many minutes, so I don't believe pony is offended by the simple name "Pony."  As an aside, yes, I am aware that "Pony" is actually a miniature horse by breed, but we are going to continue to call him Pony and I will continue to talk about my Pony and Cart even though, he is really a "mini."