From the time I was 6-10 yrs old we had lived Chapman Rd., one side of Plant City, FL.
We lived in the Strawberry and Lightening capital of the world but were surrounded by pastures full of grazing horses and groves of orange trees draped in moss.
While my playmates were often too afraid to go near these giant animals, I was fearless. I lacked any concept of these animals having an intention to harm me. Mom would often come home to find that the carrots and apples were gone from the fridge. I had used them to lure the animals to me. My hands would be covered in dirt and slobber, and my clothes matted in horse hair, manure clinging on my tennis shoes.
So when she proposed to me what I wanted to learn, I said horses!
At 11 we had moved to Colson Rd. on the other side of Plant City.
We had an acres of land, pole barn full of chickens and cages with rabbits, dogs in the yard, cats in the double wide prefab house... and now I wanted a horse.
My wonderful mother took me down the road to a field where there were always riders on horse back and surrounded by barns. They called it the Polo Plantation.
We spoke with a woman named Julie and she agreed to teach me in return for hard work. I learned to clean stalls, clean tack, clean the horses that Julie exercised to their owner and when the day was done I rode a sweet school mare, a retired polo horse that Julie brought to the barn just for me!
Sadly, Julie had not thought it would be necessary to check with her employer to insure permission for me to be working with her. One day her employer showed up unexpectedly. The woman was very upset and said she never wanted to see me on her property again. I was heart broken.
Later it was explained to me that because my mother and I had not signed any papers releasing her from any responsibility she was afraid that she could be sued in the case of an accident and she was not willing to accept that risk. I understood but was still heartbroken. I kept in contact with Julie and often asked if she knew of anyone else that might be willing to have me around.
One day when I called Julie she asked if I would be interested in having a horse of my own. Would I ever! She told me to ask my parents and let her know. Mom and dad were supportive, even willing to pay for fencing our property as long as I would help built it. I helped.
Joey was a retired polo pony, 1/4 quarter horse, 1/4 thorough bred, 1/2 morgan. He was a black gelding with bad knees and a heart of gold. He was my first horse.
Later I found another barn on the plantation that was willing to have my help in return for teaching me what I needed to know. I rode Joey to and from home to work each day and became proficient at ponying 6 horses at a time to exercise. They taught me how to tack up and braid tails for game days and how to identify polo sticks. Game days were full of danger, chaos and some of the most fun!
 |
| For more on Polo go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo |
