May 12, 2016 
You know you showed ponies back in the day if…
1. You wore a nameplate bracelet with your pony’s show name.
2. The Pony Finals changed location every year.
3. Every show had a pony model class, including the one-days, and sometimes even in an under saddle.
© Carterse / Flickr CC by 2.0
4. Ponies did not come from Europe. They came from Virginia.
5. When a top pony came up for sale there was a huge ad in the Chronicle of the Horse with Sadly Outgrown in bold print.
6. You didn’t wear high boots or your hair up in your helmet till you were 13 and on a large pony.
7. You went straight from the large ponies to showing in the 3’6″.
8. You read A Very Young Rider and The Pony Book countless times.
9. You were present for one of the very first “horseless horse shows.”
10. Fairfield was THE pony barn and Emerson Burr was THE pony trainer.
11. There was no such thing as the children’s ponies.
12. Your pony likely had the prefix Farnley, Woodland’s, or Glenmore.
13. You had to make your own accessories for your Breyer horses.
About the Author
Kim Ablon Whitney showed in the ponies back in the day. One of her proudest moments was when Emerson Burr told her she rode well.
