This is Rondel’s Lucky Lad, or "Lad" to his friends. He’s a registered Welsh Pony. Lad and I were the typical bad mix of green rider and green horse. We bought him when he was 5 and I was 8. He didn’t like to jump, at all, and made his displeasure known by dumping me in the dirt whenever possible. Dressage was Lad’s thing (as long as there was nothing too scary around the dressage arena), and this photo is from the 1983 U.S. Pony Clubs Dressage Championships, where my teammate and I were the youngest riders competing (we were both 9 and had our D-1 ratings) and our team placed second. Laddie was retired shortly thereafter at the ripe old age of 7 or 8 because we were afraid of what would happen to a brat of a pony like him if we sold him. He spent the rest of his life hanging out at my parents’ place, and died in 2001, a month shy of his 24th birthday. Photo copyright © 1983 Mary Phelps