My dream of having my child ride Schuyler did come true. Dylan was able to ride Schuyler for several years before he got too big. The first pony he ever sat on, as a 2-month-old, was Schuyler. When it came time to learn to ride, Schuyler was the obvious choice. However, I did not teach him. I had some of my more advanced teenage students teach him. There were definitely some interesting moments – like the time they were working on the canter. Schuyler usually kept a steady, quiet pace unless someone was running beside him, holding on to the kid riding. Then he would almost always go too fast, probably trying to run away from the side walker. So, the girls were running beside Schuyler, holding on to Dylan while asking Schuyler to canter. When he did, they couldn’t really keep up, but they didn’t want to let go of Dylan. So, each girl had a hold of one of Dylan’s legs up in the air above Schuyler’s behind while Dylan was still holding the reins, and Schuyler was happily cantering along as fast as he could! Dylan looked a little like Superman flying above the saddle!
When Dylan was ready, he started going to some horse shows. At first, he just did leadline with his trusty pony, so that was typically uneventful. However, when they started doing walk/trot shows on their own, it was a different story. Dylan could definitely get Schuyler to trot, but he couldn’t really post, so he just bounced along. Schuyler always hated when other horses, big or small, would get too close, so he would always pin his ears and snake his head at them. Whenever that happened with Dylan on him, Dylan would always shout out “Don’t get too close to my pony!”, right in the middle of the class!
Eventually, Dylan got tired of English and wanted to try Western. I didn’t have any Western gear that fit Schuyler, so I bought him the cutest Western outfit, including a saddle, bridle and breast collar, all decked out with silver. Dylan did several horse shows in his Western attire, but the funniest one was when he tried barrel racing and pole bending at the NC State Fair Youth Day show. He was a bit of a perfectionist about the pattern, so Dylan and Schuyler walked the entire thing to make sure that they got all their turns correct. It was the longest, most excruciating “race” ever, but Schuyler was patient through it all.
Dylan also joined Schuyler and me in one of the driving shows at the NC State Fair. I drove, but Dylan was in the cart as my “groom.” Basically, he was an added decoration, which is a big deal in Carriage Pleasure Driving. The three of us together were beautifully turned out. That was the only year that Schuyler won the most prestigious of driving awards, the Concourse D’Elegance, given to the driving team that was considered the most elegant of all the other teams throughout the entire show. It was probably Schuyler’s highest honor ever earned.
