It is a sentence I have heard on repeat throughout February and March, echoing through the house at every possible opportunity. "Mommy, can you buy me a pony?" And honestly, I completely understand why.
A handful of our children celebrated their birthdays in February and March this year, and baby "G" came closest to the real thing, she received a toy pony set for her birthday, which she has treasured with the kind of devotion only a toddler can give a plastic horse.
The Ashburton Branch of SA Pony Club is based in Ashburton near Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, and gave our children an experience never had before: the chance to sit on a real, living, breathing pony and feel what it means to be carried by something gentle and magnificent.
The smiles on their faces are not something I will forget in a hurry.
As Anthony Bourdain once said: "I'm not going to get off the pony as long as they let me ride it." and truer words have never been spoken about our children that day.
To every rider, every parent, and every pony that gave our children this gift, thank you. You gave an afternoon of your time and created memories that will last a lifetime. You saw our children, all of them, including our most vulnerable and you made sure every single one had a turn. That is the kind of community that changes lives.
And to answer the question that has now become the soundtrack of our household... no, we cannot buy a pony. But we will treasure the memory of the day we didn't need to.
The Thandi House Family
