Cocoa Brandy was my first pony. I was eleven years old. She was 13.2 hands tall. She came from a farm at the end of our street. At the other end of our street lived a gentleman who raced ponies. Cocoa had a two year old filly at her side. He wanted to keep the filly for racing so Cocoa was for sale. He thought I should have her. No one knew if Cocoa had ever been ridden or if she had it was a long time ago. I remember the gentleman giving me a leg up on her bare back in his gravel driveway. She immediately reared up and bolted. Off I went hitting my head on the gravel driveway upon landing. He was a very gruff older gentleman and hollered at me to get up, dust myself off and get back on. That was the only way to get rid of my nerves he shouted. I was more afraid of him so up I went. I rode her up and down the driveway and proceeded to ride her home. She and her filly screamed back and forth to each other the whole way.

She was pleased to find her new companion Jason waiting for her at her new home. She was very home sick and nervous. She was also very head strong and had a typical mare attitude. She reared up for a long time until one day I read in Professor Berry’s book to put warm water in a plastic bag. When she reared up I was to hit her on the head with that plastic bag and the water would run down her face to simulate blood. Well, it worked. She never reared up again!

We grew accustomed to each other over time. She was a spit fire! She was not the sweet and docile animal that my donkey was. She taught me to be strong willed. She could be stubborn. She could go like the wind and I loved it! She also jumped everything in front of her. I could finally keep up with the Myopia Hunt as I followed them on her as I had done with Jason. I also taught her to drive. Since she was a pony, I was finally able to enter the shows at Cardinal Cushing Academy. We had a ball. We always won the slow race as she had the most amazing collected canter you ever saw! She was the first animal I ever trailered. Once in a while we would go to different towns to attend horse shows. That was fun! We even brought home some blue ribbons!

I eventually out grew Cocoa and she was for sale. A family from the next town bought her. They came with a trailer and picked her up. I sent them off with a full bag of feed I had just opened. I was sad to see her go but I had experienced this with Jason and I was excited about finally getting a horse.

Just about one year later I went to visit Cocoa. I spoke with the people who purchased her on the phone to check on her and make sure they enjoyed her. When I walked into the barn to see her I was devastated! She was thin as a rail and that bag of grain I gave them was still full! I was in tears. I just could not understand at my age how anyone could do that to an animal. I called a friend and he immediately came with his horse trailer. We took her right out of their yard! We actually stole her since we did not have permission to take her. It just never occurred to me to ask. They had done something terribly unthinkable in my eyes and I was taking her back. No questions asked.

When we brought her home she was so weak she could not make it far from our driveway. She lay down in the grass so weak she could not take another step. I stayed right with her and eventually we made it to the barn. We called the veterinarian. He came and said she was so bad that he did not dare to give her anything. We nurtured her back to health and kept her for a long time. Unfortunately she lost her spirit. She was never as feisty but we had a new appreciation for each other, an understanding, a bond. She was always the boss of the other horse though. She was the queen of the pecking order!

We did have to make the decision to sell her again. We sold her to a lovely elderly lady to drive and she lived right around the corner. This time Cocoa was spoiled and fat. She once again became her surly self! She was also the boss in that yard. She is buried at that farm. She lived a very long time as ponies do. Cocoa taught me determination, what showing was all about, to bask in the glory of winning and going home to study, practice and become a better rider when I did not place or was in the lower ribbons. She taught me not to be so trusting of what people told me over the telephone, that it was a good idea to see for oneself and not take people’s word for things. She taught me more lessons about life and I grew as a person thanks to her feisty personality. She taught me to stand up for what I felt was right. I carry her with me every day.