So far, all of my blog posts have been stories with a happy storyline. This one is the opposite. Working at Garrod Farms has been great, but there was one mishap that occurred, and I’ll never forget it. 

It was a normal day, and I was taking a pony walk early in the morning. I was taking Oreo, a pony whom I had never taken on a walk before. I wasn’t aware that he misbehaves a lot more than the other ponies, which led  to us using him fewer times throughout the day than other ponies. As I was mounting the young toddler on the pony, Oreo bit my leg. I knew it was going to be a long and hard pony walk, already seeing his demeanor before we even started on the trail. 

As we walked up the hill, Oreo tried to run a few times, but I was able to catch him. As we were circling the pond, Oreo saw a little duckling and started to run. At first I caught him, but after the duck landed closer to his feet, he started galloping in circles around me. The young toddler already had trouble keeping her foot in the stirrups, but with Oreo galloping in circles at full speed she slipped off the side and almost fell. One of her feet landed on the ground, but I was able to catch her before her upper body could fall on the weedy ground. 

I felt terrible for what had happened. I was alone on a pony walk, representing Garrod Farms, and on my watch a kid fell. Luckily nobody was hurt or scratched, but it left a sickly feeling in my stomach. As we walked back down the hill (now the girl was in her dad’s arms), I felt extremely guilty for what had happened. 

Once I returned back to the stables, I had told my supervisor what had happened. The father of the young girl had been extremely kind about it, stating that Oreo is an animal, meaning he has a mind of his own. My supervisor told me I’m not in trouble and that had happened before (just 2 weeks prior) on the same pony. I kept Oreo back in his lot and returned to working at the farm. 

Although I would have rathered that it didn’t happen, I’m not necessarily mad that it did (although I still feel terrible about the child falling off). I learned a valuable lesson about responsibility and taking ownership for mistakes, even if (and especially if) these mistakes are out of your control. I learned about taking accountability for things that can go wrong on the farm, and how representing Garrod Farms means that you must be kind to the customer and apologize sincerely for any mistakes that happen. Like I’ve said before, every time I go down to the farm, I learn something new, just like I did when that mishap happened.