MOTHER'S CHILDREN

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A PONY FOR WORK AND PLEASURE

MOTHER feels strongly that youths can be creative "doers", working toward more ecological and self-reliant lifestyles . . . whether their tasks be raising chickens on a farm or maintaining rooftop container gardens in the city. To support the endeavors of our often overlooked "underage" citizens, we're glad to publish well-written articles from younger children and teenagers concerning projects they've undertaken. However, we recommend that all young authors query (that is, send us a letter telling about the story you'd like to do) before writing a full article. Address inquiries to Mother's Children, THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS ® , P.O. Box 70, Hendersonville, North Carolina 28791.

Britton Barker
My great-grandfather, Doss Britton, raises Tennessee Walkers in Missouri. He's about 90 years old, and he's been working with horses for over 70 years. I've heard lots of stories about his riding adventures (like the time he came home "froze to the saddle"). . . and other tales, too. I've even been told that he once stood at Frank James's knee and watched the famous outlaw play poker!

Well, I'm only 12 years old, but—like my great-grandfather —I've been interested in horses as long as I can remember. And for the past five years I've owned a Shetland-Hackney pony named Trigger.

My sister, my brothers, my friends, and I have all had great fun with Trigger. Sometimes one or two of us will travel the nearby roads in a one-horse carriage called a sulky. It's a wonderful way to see, hear, and smell the countryside! In the winter we ride all over the snowy hills in a little sleigh my pony pulls. And Trigger and I like to practice at a miniature horse jump I set up.

But Trigger also works. In fact, my family has found that the pony can be a very useful animal to have around a farmstead. Hitched up to a wagon, for instance, he hauls mulch hay and manure from the barn to the garden. When I need to make a phone call, I ride Trigger to the phone booth a half-mile away (we don't have a telephone at home). My mother often sends me on errands, too, and my pony really speeds up those trips for me. And in the autumn, some other children and I pick cider and applesauce apples from neighboring farmers' trees. We then load the fruit in a cart, and the pony hauls it home. Why, Trigger even has a job at a summer camp . . . taking small children for rides!

Of course, some chores aren't easy for Trigger. He has a hard time hauling firewood up the big hill from our hollow. Once he got a load so stuck in mud on his way up that he could not move! We had to unhitch the pony, lead him home, and then pull the wagon out with a tractor!