The stable where my wife and step-kids ride is going co-op, and the owner is only going to give lessons to people who own their own horses. She’s just turned 61 and has decided that she’s tired of having to be at the place all day with no time for herself. So, she’s going to start concentrating on her own riding and doing the Jumper circuit this year.

Anyway, when she announced at the barn meeting that she’s sold off most of the school horses, mainly to her long-time students, she asked if anyone had any questions. I said “Yeah, why didn’t anyone ask me?†My point was that we hadn’t known anything about what was happening (though we knew the barn owner had seemed overwhelmed over the last few months), and it occurred to me that if she stops teaching anyone who doesn’t have their own horse, then either the kids would have to ride somewhere else (what a pain that would be, wife at one stable, step-kids at another) or, they’d need their own pony. I guess she figured that my wife would keep riding her horse, and that would be all we could handle.

Once she got over her surprise (and my wife got over her shock – she had no idea that I’d do this), we ended up buying a 10 year old school pony from her. The pony's been champion at a lot of regional shows, is a fabulous, kind, sound pony that the kids can learn on, and still be very competitive in a couple of years. In fact, we’ve agreed to half lease her to another girl in the barn, and she will compete on the pony this year.

Plus, the kids are going to learn a lot of responsibility what with grooming, mucking stalls, etc.

I think I've got "Step-Dad of the Year" pretty much in the bag. Oh, "Husband of the Year", too. My wife is peaking!