Page 25 - SophiesPonyTalesJuly10C

CHAPTER 11 ANOTHER NEW BEGINNING

The younger sister, Heather saw my new big it was fun. Work isn’t hard if you like what you are
trot. doing. I liked pulling the cart. I put my fear aside at
least put fear far away, in the back of my mind.
One April morning she said, “With a trot like
that she should be a carriage driving horse. We Being hitched to a cart was different than
should try driving her again.” Heather knew a lot having a person bouncing and trying to balance on
about driving and what it took to be a competitive your back. Usually the cart was easy to pull. I had to

carriage horse. She had owned a champion carriage pay close attention to my whip as he gave signals
horse when she was in high school. Now that she with the reins, his voice, and the whip. I learned to
was out of college and living nearby she announced tell what he wanted, learning to know the words
to her father Glenn, “I’m going to train Sophie as a walk, whoa, back, slow trot, trot on, and easy. Eve-
carriage horse and you as a driver or whip. She has rything was going well. Sometimes traffic cones are

developed a trot that deserves to be put to use.” set in pairs with enough space for the cart to go be-
tween them. We practiced figure eights and serpen-
“How can we do that?” Glenn asked. He
tines through the cones. I learned to balance myself
had been around horses, riding them, since he was
and make smooth round circles when we got to the
ten but had never driven one. He wasn’t sure he
part of the training called dressage.
could trust Sophie.
We practiced every other day for an hour. I was
“I will come every Monday morning at 7:00
getting stronger and faster with each workout. One
a.m. for an hour lesson. You will be ready by Au-
day as were coming down a trail I heard, “Wow, she
gust. I will enter you in a competition then so you
just hit 20 miles per hour pulling the cart.” Imitating
have a goal.” The older sister Glenda, agreed that
Monarch, I found a ground covering stride that ena-
we should try driving again. Glenn was a little less
bled me to trot fast for long distances. The cart had
enthusiastic. It would be hard work and take a lot of
a speedometer that recorded how far we went and
time. His vocation left little free time. It had been
our speed. We usually went five or six miles each
years since the cart rollover accident.
time we hitched up.
I was now 10 years old. If I was going to be
Glenn was gaining skill as a driver. His confi-
of any use other than a trail horse a carriage driving
dence in me was growing. I needed a strong leader
career would be a possibility for me.
to enable me to surrender control as I was and am a
Every Monday we had a lesson, then during strong-willed horse.
the week we would practice. It was hard work, but

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