Sarah Todd: Tears and laughter as the search continues for a replacement pony

As we enter the school holidays, it’s increasingly hard to jolly along our daughter.

“There’s a music workshop at the village hall,” we say, hopefully, only to hear in reply, “It’s hardly going for a ride …”

She was so brave when her pony died. It still makes me proud to think of the way she handled a situation sad enough to knock the stuffing out of anybody twice her age.

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A kind of foggy haze covers the Husband’s eyes as we recount each potential replacement viewed. Bucking, longer in the tooth than advertised – we’ve seen them all.

We’ve also learnt, to our peril, that the term “second pony” can be a euphemism for – how to put it politely? – rather a lively personality.

And it’s not just the daughter who’s down in the mouth. Our little lad is also missing Darius – “he was going to teach me to canter,” he says, with eyes still full of tears.

One thing that did manage to lift their spirits was when they put an advert in the pet shop window offering “young cockerels – free to a good home”.

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They’re from the first lot of chicks they hatched, so we didn’t really fancy eating them and had hoped for homes where they could “be cockerels”.

A respectable-sounding lady left an answering machine message, saying that she was interested and could we ring her back. Unbeknown to her, she hadn’t put the telephone down properly and immediately started swearing; telling somebody – presumably a son or husband – he’d need to “pull your finger out” and get them killed.

Every word was recorded on the answering machine. The cockerels’ young owners were in hysterics.

Needless to say, we didn’t call back and – worst luck for me, who seems to be the only one woken up by them cock-a-doodle-do-ing – they’re all still in residence here.

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We’ve got some books to take back to the library – to forestall the bereaved pony owner. No, it’s not as exciting as “going for a ride”, but just like talk of the cattle markets the other week, our local market town’s library is much more than a place to borrow books. It’s a real social hub.

People pop in to use the computers, the elderly come and get “talking books”, mothers who probably wouldn’t see anything but nappies all day, have a chat.

Yes, there’s money to be saved (what about council chief executives’ salaries for starters?) but closing libraries is a battle authorities may regret picking.

As a cheeky footnote, if you’re selling a 12.2hh (for a small person to ride off the lead rein) or a 13.2hh (Pony Club-type pony that’s smart enough for the summer shows) then please get in touch, or leave a message on 0791 8070716.

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