Here’s a toy for a child destined for the Grand Prix ring! Looks like a lot of fun, doesn’t it?
Preparing your child to be a Grand Prix rider?
Category Archives: Horse toys
The first foal
Readers who guessed that the Rocking Horse farm was really a breeding operation were correct. Imagine my surprise when I drove by recently to discover that the first foal was on the ground!
Make your bike Hot to Trot with Trotify
There have been many times in my life when I was horse-less when I would have installed “Trotify” on my bike.
When I was a kid I dreamed of having my own horse . . . and had to settle for a 10-speed.
Even when I was in college I would pretend that the wind in my hair was from galloping, rather than pedaling.
The sound effects would have made it oh-so-much better!
And then there were four
If you’ve been following my blog you may have noticed a series of photos that I’ve taken of bouncing horses that are in a field next to a road I drive by.
First there was just one. Then that horse got a friend. And another.
Recently a fourth was added to the herd. In a true depiction of herd dynamics, the newcomer hung back for awhile, seeming to be reluctant to join the herd. Within a week, though, he was right in the thick of things! The newcomer is a different “breed” than the others. Smaller in size, I guess you’d have to say he’s a gaited horse.
I’ve still never seen a child playing with these horses but someone sure is having fun! (I never move the horses, I just photograph them as I find them).
The first time I saw the fourth horse he looked reluctant to join the herd.
The herd grows
I drove by this horse for months wondering if I would ever see someone out playing with him.
Last September I posted a photo of a bouncing horse that was sitting in a field next to a road I drive down (Out to Pasture). It struck me that the horse looked lonely — I never saw a child playing with it. The toy reminded me of one I had when I was a kid.
The addition of the second horse made the first one look happier.
Then one day last November, a second horse appeared — a friend, at last! The two bouncing horses were together all winter and while I still never saw a child playing with them, at least they had each other (every horse needs a turnout buddy). The new horse was smaller, and his addition made the pair look playful.
The newest horse is larger and more elegant than the first two. Perhaps the child is getting taller and needs a larger mount.
A couple of weeks ago I was driving down the road and was amazed to see that a third horse has joined the herd. The newest addition is a larger more elegant horse than the first two. He’s quite a handsome paint and he looks a bit newer than the rest. I particularly like how they’ve been arranged in the new spring grass. It’s almost as if they are getting to know each other. Or perhaps, they are having a tea party.
I don’t worry about the bouncing horses anymore. Even though I have still never seen a child playing with them it’s obvious they are well loved.
Who needs a kid! I want one of these for Christmas
Little Tikes Giddyup N' Go Pony - don't you want one?
This is one of the funniest ads I’ve ever read. It’s sure to make many horse folks run out and buy one of these for their children and to wish they came in larger sizes.
Only problem? I think it may be a starter pony rather than a pony replacement.
Some people might say there’s no replacement for a real pony. You know who those people are? Breeders and stable owners. Because it’s a fact of life, real horse people are crazy. They dress constantly in horse clothes, they haul their saddles all over the place, and if there’s even a teeny bit of sunlight visible you know they’re skipping out early to ride.
Golf buffs? Star Trek fans? The Manson Family? All of them have nothing close to the devotion a true horse fan shows for his or her animal. Is it any wonder they fight so hard to get you to drop a few hundred grand their way? “Stable fees” they call it. More like a pony-zi scheme.
Anyway, if you’re scowling at us for what we’ve said, you’re probably a horse lover, and you probably already have a perfectly good pony. But if you’re saying “Hey, those Woot idiots are right this time!” then consider purchasing the Little Tikes Giddyup N’ Go Pony instead of a real, live horse.
The Little Tikes Giddyup N’ Go Pony has the cutest little kicks as it moves- see them happen here! -and it gives your child the thrill of control that some stick hobby-horse just can’t offer. But there’s more! Handlebars and adjustable footrests add safety (Safety? On a horse? When did this start?) and there’s even a brake to keep the Little Tikes Giddyup N’ Go Pony from moving of its own accord.
Meanwhile real horses are slowly trotting down the street with frightened children on their backs as stable owners yell “It’s your own fault for not taking authorityyyyyy!” As if it were possible for a child to keep this beast-of-war tied down. What could they be expected to do, bribe them with sugar lumps and carrots? Which, by the way, are an extra expense that the Little Tikes Giddyup N’ Go Pony will never require.
Consider this a plea, Horse lovers, to keep your scary death-dealing monster cult away from our young people. And parents, don’t fall into the trap! Let your child laugh and play with a Little Tikes Giddyup N’ Go Pony and put all that extra money you’d waste in a fund for their college education. When they get a degree in Not-Wasting-Time-Shoveling-Dung-ology, they’ll thank you for keeping their future safe, and for giving them happy riding memories too. And you’ll owe it all to the Little Tikes Giddyup N’ Go Pony.
My little pony develops a new fan base
My Litte Pony: Friendship is Magic has a fan base of men
I remember when my daughter collected the My Little Pony figurines. Compared to Bratz dolls and some of the other scarily made up and provocatively dressed options for young girls, they were a welcome change. She outgrew her plastic ponies somewhere around the age of six.
It seems that young girls are not the only MLP devotees. There is a growing fan base of adult men who call themselves “bronies” (bro ponies) who are fans of the cartoon and who collect the ponies.
Each day, out-of-work computer programmer Luke Allen self-medicates by watching animated ponies have magical adventures.
The 32-year-old, who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, loves his daily fix of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, and he’s not alone. He’s part of a growing group of “bronies” (“bro ponies”) — men who are fans of a TV show largely intended for a much younger audience.
“First we can’t believe this show is so good, then we can’t believe we’ve become fans for life, then we can’t believe we’re walking down the pink aisle at Toys R Us or asking for the girl’s toy in our Happy Meal,” Allen said in an e-mail to Wired.com. “Then we can’t believe our friends haven’t seen it yet, then we can’t believe they’re becoming bronies too.”
This My Little Pony fan video has more than 160,000 views on YouTube.
Wired Magazine reported that MLP fans are just pumping out MLP content. The online artist collective deviantArt has more than 90,000 pieces of My Little Pony artwork and hundreds more are going up each day (on one random day in May, about 330 pieces were submitted) and the MLP blog Equestria Daily, attracts roughly 175,000 page views per day! That’s certainly nothing to sneeze at.
Maybe I should have held onto my daughter’s collection!
Once a mother, always a mother
Who would think that a horse would become attached to a stuffed animal? According to the description on the video:
We found a stuffed pony at the thrift store that looked like Sugar so it seemed like a great photo op until Sugar had an unexpected reaction…she started treating it like it was a real baby! This video shows what happened when I tried to take it away!
