As a little red-haired boy growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania, there was nothing I wanted more than a pony. That was my life’s dream, ambition and obsession.
While other boys were trading baseball cards. I was collecting miniature horse statures. When friends wanted to go the movies or roller skating, I had to first rule out any horse shows. By the age of eight, if anything was clear to me it was that If I didn’t get a pony, everything would be wrong in my world. And I understood my only chance was to win one. Thankfully, thought our apartment was too small, with a rent too small, with a rent too large, my parents seemed happy to buy me a ticket for every win-a-pony contest that came along. They also were quite good at reminding me how greatly the ‘odds’ were stacked against me.
From a toddler until the age of 10, I entered every pony contest I could. Whether it was just stubbornness, or the beauty of innocence, or some kind of soul-certainty I was a factor. No. What I believed, with every cell in my body, was that all I needed to do was stay focused on my plan and purpose, and keep trusting my heart. What I knew was that there was a pony stabled in my soul, waiting for me to find her. And that’s what I prayed for every day.
I did finally win pony! What happened was … one day while watching my favourite western theme children show on TV, I was shocked and surprised to hear the cowgirl hostess announce that the station was offering a free pony to any boy or girl who could make the best cattle brand out of their initials.
‘Yee-hah! This is it!’ My heart sang out. ‘My pony is calling to me!’ I was ecstatic! Fuelled by a decade of longing, it only took me a couple of hours to take my initials — TAN — turn the A into a rounded upside down horseshoe, stretch the N across it like a lightning bolt, name it the ‘Lightning - T – Horseshoe’ and race to the mailbox. Though I ‘knew’ instantly, it was three weeks later before the station announced, ‘Congratulations, Tommy, you won the pony!’
I appeared on TV to receive my pony, we found a little barn we could use. By the time the universe had wrapped up granting me this great gift to myself, all my younger brother and I needed to do was — walk about a mile to the barn, throw the red saddle on our beautiful Shetland, and joyfully gallop around the country side — of course, flying off now and again.
Looking back as a white-haired grandfather who is still sharing pony stories with my children and their children, I am happy to remind everyone that the best way to realise your dreams is to trust your inner wisdom.
— Thomas Newnam
