Harrowsmith Fall 2019 | 47Pony Tales
ByBessieWilsonABOUT A WHOLE BUNCH OF STUFFO
ne day, my parents went
away for the day, leaving
me with my dear old
Grandma Sykes. Grandma was
quite proper! She spent many
an hour using the old treadle
sewing machine upstairs in the
farmhouse. She also made many
beautiful quilts and knitted
hundreds of socks and mittens for
children all over the area.
My pony, Polly, and I were a bit
bored that day. She had just gone
to the bathroom, so I suddenly
decided to take her upstairs to
visit Grandma. Polly weighed
666 pounds. Anyway, the house
was very quiet, so up the stairs
we went, Polly following me just
like my pet dog, Greg. She had
the tiniest hooves, so she had
no problem at all navigating the
long flight of stairs. Grandma
didn’t hear us coming, as she was
running the sewing machine.
Polly put her nose on Grandma’s
shoulder and up Grandma
jumped. “Bessie, what in the world
made you bring a horse upstairs
and however are you going to get
her down?” she asked.
I hadn’t given the thought of
how I was going to get Polly back
down much consideration, but
she waddled down like a dog,
never missing a step, slipping or
falling through the steps, which
could easily have happened. The
following day, I was warned by my
parents that Polly was to make no
more house visits!
I kept Polly for years, and then
a cousin in Moonstone wanted to
buy her for his son. They promised
never to sell her, and I knew the
family was always very kind to
horses. The son outgrew her, but
the family still kept her.
One day in November, I had
just arrived home to Eady after
attending The Royal Agricultural
Winter Fair in Toronto. Father
told me to look out on our lawn,
that there was someone looking
for me. I took our old lantern out
and there was Polly, my dearest
old pet. She had come about five
miles to see me and was very
hard of hearing and nearly blind. I
spoke really loud into her ear and
got lovingly nuzzled and spit on
and rubbed. I got her some bread
and brown sugar and brushed her