54 SIDELINES OCTOBER 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
one had seen him yet that year. It was speculated that he hadn’t
survived the winter. They said Billy Ray had been a large bay
pony, too. I had two other pinto colts on my list. The foals were all
numbered with yellow tags that looked like sticky notes. My little
guy’s number was 98B.
The morning of the pony swim was a long one. We paid $20
to stand on someone’s back lawn to get a better view. When low
tide fnally happened and it was safe for the ponies to make their
journey, the Cowboys sent off a red fare. The crowd began to
cheer as the ponies came into view followed by the Cowboys on
their own mounts. I can’t even describe how incredible it was to
see nothing but their muzzles, eyes and ears sticking out of the
water. Once they’d reached the shore they were allowed to rest
for an hour while they were checked over by a vet. My parents and
I used that time to rush to the carnival ground so we could watch
as the Cowboys herded the ponies into the big pen that was there.
It was fun to watch the herds fnd each other amongst the crowd
of ponies.
The next morning was the auction and I was nervous. The night
before we’d written our last name on three plastic bags and taped
them to the bleachers. Lots of other people had already done so.
We found our seats and waited for the ponies on my list to be
brought out. There was no running order because they brought the
foals out as they caught them. I told my dad to bid on whichever
one came out frst just in case he didn’t win there would be two
more chances. My favorite colt with the backwards quarter moon
on his face was the frst of my three to be brought out. He was
very calm and didn’t rear or buck like most of the other foals, we
hoped this was a good model of his personality. We got in a slight
bidding war with some unknown person and I later learned when
she found me on Facebook that the other person who wanted my
pony owns his full brother. Needless to say, my dad won.
Clipper Comes Home
I remember shrieking out with excitement when the auctioneer
pointed to my father and shouted, “SOLD!” The pony I would
later name Eclipse, and call Clipper, was only a month old and
too young to leave his mother and had to stay on Chincoteague
another month with her. He then went someplace else to get
halter broke. He was fve months old when we fnally brought him
home. The frst thing I did was sit in his stall on a bucket and
read Misty of Chincoteague to him. We dressed him up for all the
holidays, I took him trick or treating, we threw him a frst birthday
party barbeque.
We moved to Aiken, South Carolina two years ago from New
Jersey and Clipper just started jumping this summer. He’s come a
long way from that cute little foal barely bigger than a Greyhound.
He’s 14.2 now. He went to his frst Combined Test, practiced for
his frst event and did the walk trot dressage test and cross rail
division. He came in second. I’ve never been so proud of anything
in my life, my little pony that I’d raised and broken with the help
of some wonderful trainers and my parents, got second at his frst
show! Clipper has taught me so much and he truly is the ultimate
souvenir from the best family vacation I’ve ever been on.
“My Story” is a frst person account of life in the equestrian
world. Would you like to write your story for Sidelines Magazine?
To be considered, send a brief description of your story to editor@
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Clipper, age 5, and
Lida jumping Clipper’s
frst cross-country
jump,
summer 2012
Photo by Brian Allenby
Lida watching ponies on Assateague Island before her dad said
she could have one, July 2007.
Photo by Nick Bard
One month old
Clipper at the pony
auction, July 2007.
Photo by Nick Bard
Halloween Fun! Lida and Clipper, age 2, enjoy trick-or-treating.
Photo by Nick Bard
Continued on page 78