PAELA

Did I tell you, we bought another pony! It came about in sort of an odd way. I noticed Hannah was regressing in her riding. She was tired of going around in circles in the ring and wanted to go on trail rides and explore cross country jumping. Lady is not fit for that because she is hard to handle for an 8 year outside of the ring. Lady also was difficult to handle over the jumps...she gets very excited. Hannah had some bad falls with lady and was timid and afraid of Lady. Cantering was not an option. So I said we should get a pony for Hannah and the boys to play with around the farm. Well everything we looked at was terrible! I found that pony's have the worst personalities and rightly so after hauling young inexperienced riders all day.

One night I just peeked at the web listings of ponies for sale and I bumped our price up just a bit. Low and behold a lovely pony within 30 miles. It was a welsh/paint cross and a little green but quiet and small. We took a look...for a week we looked and rode this pony and that is how we came to have Paela.

Hannah calls her 'My Sweet Paela Pony' and sweet she is...not that she does not have her days as we all do. She is all black with a star on her forehead. We brought her home in January and had her vet checked. As the vet said "I don't' know where you got this pony or what you paid for this pony but you can not pay enough for a pony like this!"

What a boost to Hannah's riding and confidence. Emily, I am pleased to say that Hannah started cantering over the jumps now in both the saddle and bare back. Paela's form over the jumps is improving and the two of them look great together! They make a wonderful team and what a great pony to learn jumping! I will keep you posted on how she does this show season :)

Oh, you may be wondering where we got the name Paela. To make a long story short, the word paela is a rare form of burled tropical wood. It is prized for its burling and dark brown-black color.

PS. we are hanging onto Lady. She will make a nice jumping pony for Hannah when she is older and stronger and maybe a good broodmare. She is that perfect large pony size - 14.2 hands. :)