Personal Ponies

John and Raindrop go for a spin. awareness, patience, and generosity by equines and humans alike. We lunge, jump, trot, and walk our animals in spiraling circles and figure eights. Loose but firm hands on the reins, the animals go where your eyes go. We dance together.

My favorite time at the barn is late at night, with no one else around. I love being in the stall with Raindrop as she and her stable mates settle down for the evening. The sounds and smells of two dozen safe, warm, and protected equines are divine. Just being there, in sublime stillness, through her quiet eyes, I am part of the herd. It’s at these moments that I experience “rasa”, a Sanskrit term indicating a profound state of empathic bliss.

Pony precepts have taught me a lot of things, some of which apply to human interactions. Beginner’s mind, meeting colleagues on their terms, starting where they are, interconnectivity, embracing the peripheral world, dancing with others, and sublime stillness all seem like good ideas to bring back into the office each morning — after I finish mucking out her stall, of course!

John R. Killacky is executive director of Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington, VT. Originally published as a commentary for Vermont Public Radio. Fall 2014

Gail M Schumann Charlestown, NH

Personal Ponies was founded by Marianne Alexander on November 3, 1986 and was specifically created to benefit a small, differently able child by offering a small pony for life-use at no charge. It is a well known saying that “the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man”. At the time there seemed to have been a very real lack of attention to the needs of young children with special needs and there was an absence of suitable small-sized equines bred just for them. Surely “the outside of a small pony would be good for the inside of a small child who is differently able.”

Personal Ponies is now represented in nearly every state around the country and our dream is that ever community will have Volunteer Pony Farms serving together those children who are differently able. Volunteers around the country come in all shapes and sizes. We are most proud of the able bodied children involved in our program who have the opportunity to understand by serving other children with different needs how important it is that we are here for one another in a very real way. Those children are just as much part of the future of our program.

BELOW ARE SOME KEY CONCEPTS ABOUT PERSONAL PONIES:

• Personal Ponies is based on the concept of CARING. • Every Personal Ponies volunteer should read and learn the Commandments of Leadership • The Personal Ponies program is based on community service to assist and support families with children that are differently able by offering them a pony — AT NO CHARGE. • All volunteers within Personal Ponies are encouraged to act freely and experiment with their own ideas knowing that each and everyone is to be responsible for the result of their determinations. • The Personal Ponies program is committed to promote the breeding, registration and disbursement of information about the UK Shetland Pony and manage and maintain our The Shetland Registry (TSR) for all ponies’ part of the program. • The Personal Ponies program is based on a high bar of excellence and included in that is superior care taking of every pony in our program. Every pony is to be in excellent condition, following the best practices presented by our National Director of Health and Nutrition, Lisa St. John. All aspects of pony-keeping are a priority at all times. Our ponies have agreed to be in service and we have agreed to be their keepers. As part of our agreement, there is no allowance at all for anything other than the above. When care is lacking, and education is not forthcoming, our ponies must be removed at the director’s discretion. • Personal Ponies is a 100 percent volunteer organization which means that

ALL contributions to Personal Ponies go towards running our program. No one is paid a penny for what they do and no charges are ever issued for our services. • Ponies in our program are NEVER SOLD or given away. All ponies in our program remain in our program until the end of their lives. • Personal Ponies is a LEARNING ORGANIZATION. We have been and will always be a learning organization. This means that at times our decisions will show themselves as being wonderfully crafted and at other times, we have lessons to learn and need to find a better way. In either case, each volunteer will take responsibility for his or her choices.

Gail M Schumann is the State Director for NH for over 15 years and the National Director for Accounts/State Registrations. Personal Ponies website is www.personalponies.org and on facebook.

Fall 2014www.4LegsAndATail.com 51