I got the first horse I leased for Christmas. My parents bought a bridle (ostensibly with my trainers help) and in the box had a note written in the horse’s voice about how he expected me to be there three days a week and how he was really looking forward to sharing many months of lessons and rides together. I was ecstatic!
I think this video is appropriate for this thread.
Disclaimer: I do not know the child or pony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUaB2uxgSQE&list=FL22BkqrSiNFpa-uOI7wQCNw&index=7&feature=plpp_video
[QUOTE=supershorty628;6652041]
I think this video is appropriate for this thread.
Disclaimer: I do not know the child or pony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUaB2uxgSQE&list=FL22BkqrSiNFpa-uOI7wQCNw&index=7&feature=plpp_video[/QUOTE]
OMG! I’m totally fighting the lump in my throat! That’s so sweet!
I’d been riding my neighbor’s horse for over a year when they decided to move. They asked my folks if they wanted to buy him. There was no clue or discussion with me. Only a vague question by my father “Is Dusty a good horse”. Christmas morning came and I came out to open my stocking and check the presents. There was one plain brown cardboard box, not wrapped, just the flaps folded in, addressed to me. 13 yo me couldn’t resist; I opened it to find Dusty’s papers with my name as the present owner. I didn’t make a sound, but I SCREAMED FOR FIVE STRAIGHT MINUTES then put the papers back in the box and waited for my family to wake up. I tried to open the box first, but my dad gruffly said, that has to wait. So I opened a lot of other things until finally I came to the book, “A Horse of Your Own.” Then Dad said I could open the other present. Somehow I knew how important the surprise was to Dad and Mom, and I promise you my reaction was all they could’ve asked for! They NEVER found out that I’d opened the box alone.
My trainer did that for her daughter when she was about 6 yo. The pony was delivered to the barn a few days before Christmas. On Christmas morning her husband drove to the barn and picked up the pony. When it was time to reveal the secret, dad had slipped out and brought the pony into the garage. Pony had a big red bow around his neck.
I Love this thread - always wanted a surprise pony with a ribbon around it’s neck ! Since I’m 52 now & have 3 horses, it’s probably not going to happen. . . ? If I had a child, they would’ve gotten one whether they wanted it or not 
Make sure you take a video and share it with us !
That video made me cry!
Man I always dreamed of my parents surprising me with a pony! Never happened though…
However, my FIL surprised us with a horse for our wedding! She had a big beautiful bow and a shined up western halter with all the bling and walked her down the aisle after the wedding. It was so special and sweet 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47220200@N07/8068519169/in/set-72157631724495397/
We leased DD’s first horse for a couple of years and when the owner decided she would sell him to us we put the bill of sale and a nice letter from the owner in DD’s Easter Basket - she had to read the letter two or three times to believe what it was saying. Even though she cried at first, she laughed later about the Easter Bunny being able to fit a 16.3 horse in her basket! I believe she was 12 or 13 at the time.
The next time we surprised her was this spring when a horse we had boarded and she had ridden left - DD thought he was gone to be sold but then the owner decided to send him back for DD to ride again. He arrived while she was at school and when she came down to the barn in the afternoon, the stall which had a 15.1 horse when she left now had her 17.3 boy in it - loved leaving a 17 year old completely speechless!!
I think a really cute idea (it’d require a bit of planning and ‘doing’ but worth it imo) would be to plan for a family portrait, like at a studio or home. Set everyone up, and take a photo or right before you do, have the photographer or assistant tell the kid, “hey Sally, your parents wanted me to tell you, you’re getting a pony!!” And then take the series of photos of her reaction, with the smiling parents, too of course you could just do the kid alone in a pic but i think the whole family together would be a sweet touch.
And if you could get the logistics right, the surprise could include the pony being revealed and included in pictures, too!
Oh yes My daughter had been taking lessons since she was 6. I was on the hunt for a pony for her. I searched and found an Arab cross mare that I had owned as a baby and bought her to be DD’s first pony. We went to see her with the understanding that we were checking her out for the lesson barn. The “lesson barn” bought the pony and she was her special project. She named her Diamonds Please for her show name. Her barn name was Mallie. Christmas morning, I had a custom frame made with “Every girl wants Diamonds for Christmas” written on the top, a picture of her and Mallie in the frame, and “Merry Christmas Sweetheart, this Diamond belongs to you now” on the bottom. You can see the video of her opening it and figuring out what the writing meant I highly recommend Christmas Ponies…rushing to the barn as soon as she could get dressed was a blast!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vE_LnySSbc
I know a kid whose parents bought her a horse for her birthday (the barn horse she was riding). The way they told her was to buy a Breyer set with a doll and a horse the same color as the one they bought her. They taped the girl’s name on the doll and the horse’s name on the horse and wrapped them up. She got it when she opened it. She actually started crying again when she was telling me about it, she was so happy.
no grand surprise for me…we’d been leasing my heart horse and then when i was 12, i was snooping and found his papers. i’m biding my time til i get DD (2) a pony, planning how to surprise her.
I’m not a young kid anymore but after taking lessons for months, I wish my husband would surprise me with a pony in bows for Christmas…just saying.
My parents never could have afforded it but we sure can.
I also have to say, these stories made me cry.
I just went through half a box of kleenex.
[QUOTE=supershorty628;6652041]
I think this video is appropriate for this thread.
Disclaimer: I do not know the child or pony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUaB2uxgSQE&list=FL22BkqrSiNFpa-uOI7wQCNw&index=7&feature=plpp_video[/QUOTE]
I just went through half a box of kleenex.
Great stories!!! I took her into the barn to visit my horse and drop off some stuff, and mentioned there was a new horse next to her. I had decorated the stall door with shiny tinsel and the name plate with her name before we got there. She walked in casually eating an apple, started jumping up to see over the stall door, realized it was a pony, then it dawned on her to read the stall sign! She was so excited - me and the pony got lots of hugs and kisses!
here is the counterpoint to that adorable video 
My parents surprised me with my first horse for my 6th birthday. I went for my riding lesson and the horse I had been riding was in her stall with a big wreath and bow around her neck that said “Happy Birthday” on it. I remember wondering why everyone in the whole barn was standing in the isle looking excited as I walked in! No video but here are a few photos:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h283/srs2712/marshallie-2.jpg
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h283/srs2712/marshallie3.jpg
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h283/srs2712/marshallie-1.jpg
two sticks, adorable!
