I am so grateful to all of the people who expressed interest in the Partnering with Ponies 2025 Tribute.  And then I sincerely appreciate those that supported the Tribute by signing up.  And finally my heart has been filled to overflowing by those who completed the Tribute.  The comments I have received have confirmed that our ponies enjoy partnership and respond to our attempts to create that relationship! I remain grateful to the Fell Pony Society Challenge team for inspiring the Tribute.

For many participants, recording the notable moments was challenging.  The reason I included notable moments in the Tribute is something clinician Warwich Schiller says often:  “The sense of being seen, being heard, feeling felt, and getting gotten…. There is something about communicating your awareness of that stuff that really makes a difference with horses.”  By asking participants to record their notable moments, I was hoping their awareness of ‘that stuff’ would plant the seeds of partnership with their ponies.  Several participants definitely felt that was the case.

Here are some comments I received from participants:

• “This has been the absolute best thing ever to happen to my ponies and me!!  If my documentation isn’t up to par, don’t worry about sending me a ribbon.  This was way too rich in what I needed, my reward has already happened.  I will continue utilizing these activities for all Fells.”

• “My pony and I have totally enjoyed these activities and he has gotten so he wants me to do something every day with him!  These activities are definitely ones to build upon and make him even better!  Thank you so much for doing this!  I hope we can do something like this next year too!  Super enjoyable!”

• “We did it!  I love this pony!  She is a wonderful pony and I feel so blessed to be her partner. She comes right up to me these days - maybe because she knows if she wears the halter she’ll get to graze for five minutes before we do anything else - but still…”

• “I really so appreciate you doing this.  It has really helped the bond between my son and me and has really helped his bond with the ponies.  It really has been a gift.”

• “On a trail ride with others, my pony spotted a dog and person before the rest of us and then spotted a deer.  Neither bothered her. The notable moment with both is that her attention alerted me, so I could alert our riding partner who was on a youngster.”

• “Performing this Tribute was an ongoing lesson in how truly fortunate I am to be able to place my expectations and trust on the capable back of my pony. He continues to teach me just how important it is to hold on and when it is okay to let go. Grateful to receive these blessings from the wisdom held in his eyes and under his fuzzy ears.”

• “I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to finish the Tribute.  I’m so glad I did.  I was reminded once again how willing my ponies are to engage with me and help me achieve what I want to, if I will just show up.  And of course, I also need to acknowledge they have their own thoughts, feelings, and ideas about how to get to the finish line!  So grateful!”

While we had several Fell Ponies participating, the Tribute was open to anyone interested.  We also had a Norwegian Fjord, a Fell cross, and a warmblood youngster!

Several people were unable to complete the Tribute for the various reasons that life sends our way.  All funds remaining after ribbons are sent to the participants will be donated to The Fell Pony Society in England.  So even if someone wasn’t able to finish the Tribute activities, they will still have that donation to be proud of contributing to.

My co-creator of the Tribute, Paula Guenther, went above and beyond and created a Notable Moments and Photo journal. She and her Norwegian Fjord horse Torrin did mostly mileage and went on many adventures together. The photos were the proverbial thousand words of explanation of the notable moments! She’s given me permission to share it with you (click here).

Here are my favorite photos from the participants.  There were so many, it was hard to choose just a few!

Accumulating miles, an alternative to the activities

An acceptable adaptation of the highway clean up activity, #27

Backing through a gate, activity # 11

Walk pony across a tarp, activity #19

Back against a wall, activity #9

More miles being accumulated

Go through an underpass, activity # 34

Jumping over a pole, activity #23

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2025

I can easily imagine someone asking, “what the heck do the activities of the Partnering with Ponies 2025 Tribute have to do with the working heritage of our ponies?” Nothing and everything, it turns out! Click here for a link to an article I wrote for Rural Heritage magazine many years ago with the assistance of teamster Laura Masterson in Oregon. We called it “Ideas for the Off-Season.” It describes some of the activities in the Tribute and how they relate to her work with her team of work horses during her busy season.

Mya the Wonder Pony did a lot of work in harness and taught me a lot about working ponies. Here’s she’s skidding brush for a client of the logging business my late husband and I had.

Previously, I mentioned Warwick Schiller’s email titled “The Value of Allowing a No.” Since then I’ve been contacted by folks saying there’s other people besides Schiller that work towards yeses by allowing no’s. Yes! And isn’t that awesome! One clinician that was mentioned in particular is Kansas Caradine. Kansas spent many years working with horses in the traveling show Cavalia.

Libby Robinson who, like me, worked professionally with ponies, commented on my last post, “Your pony knows what you are saying and understands what you want; working together is in their blood.” How does work, day-in, day-out with ponies relate to the value of allowing a no? Because when you have a job to do, you can’t afford a pony saying “no, I’m not interested in doing that today.” Whether it’s Kansas Caradine in Cavalia or Libby in her varied work with ponies or me in the woods skidding brush and logs for a client, we need to know that our pony is truly our work partner. When clients pay you only upon completion of a job, you need to know that the pony you take to work with you is going to say yes all day until the job is done. And the way that you get to that sort of partnership is to realize, as Schiller suggested, that no’s can be ‘not yets’ and our ponies will help us understand how to get those ‘not yets’ to yeses.

At least in the line of work I did with my ponies, there was absolutely no way to expose them to all that might happen when we went on a job. Instead, it was really important that I have a strong partnership of work with my ponies. I developed that by showing up every day to do something with them. Many of the activities in the Tribute are ones that can be used to develop that kind of partnership in advance if we can’t prepare for jobs in other ways. I hope Tribute participants will use the activities to create and/or enjoy a deeper relationship with their ponies. One lifetime with them isn’t enough!