Claire's “PERSONAL PONY”
(as told by her mom, Kristen Harding)
 Winter,
1998 - Last April, we finally joined the
world of computer technology and got ourselves a computer. The first
thing i wanted to do was to get "on line." As I have been a horse lover
for many years, I began to look up horse related topics. One of the
first websites I found was PERSONAL PONIES. That looked very
interesting to me , not because it had to do with ponies, but because
of the organization itself. What a wonderful idea! Giving away Shetland
ponies to kids with special needs. You see, my youngest daughter,
Claire, has Down's Syndrome.
We live on a ninety-five acre apple orchard in
Washington state with horses, goats, chickens, dogs and cats. My
husband, Jim, and I thought we would love to be volunteer breeders and
help other kids with special needs. After all, our Claire already had
horses and other farm animals to love, although she couldn't be safely
around them without a tremendous amount of supervision.
I emailed a lovely lady named Marianne Alexander
and told her about our interest in becoming volunteer breeders and how
wonderful it would be for Claire to have a pony that was “her” size on
the farm. The more I spoke with Marianne, the more excited I became! I
am a school teacher and have access to many special needs kids and I
started to make plans to “share” Claire's pony (should she get one)
with all the children in our community who might benefit. What child
wouldn't! Jim and I even started to make plans to save money to
purchase breeding stock on our own, but at this time our lives, we
couldn't afford any more horses.
But lo and behold, Marianne wrote to me one day
and said she had a pony for Claire. It was a gelding named Sherman's
Duke. We were thrilled for Claire—and for ourselves. How exciting! We
really couldn't believe that Claire had been offered a pony of her very
own free of charge! This wasn't even a breeding stock pony, as
it was a gelding, but a pony JUST for Claire.
Now Jim and I began to look for a way to transport
Duke. You see, we were in Washington and Duke was in New Hampshire. We
worked and worked on shipping for him, and after about a month, it
looked like it just wasn't going to happen. We were, of course, very
disappointed but consoled ourselves with the thought that Duke would go
to another special needs child closer to his home. Besides, Marianne
was so positive that things would work out. “Never give up,” she would
say. “I KNOW Claire will get her pony. Be patient and have hope. Before
you know it, a little pony will step out of a trailer and look up at
Claire and know that he is home.”
 It was late
September when I got a letter from Marianne
saying that there might be a pony in Spokane, Washington, for Claire.
How lucky we were! A pony right here in our home state. The next day I
got an e-mail from a wonderful woman named Jenny Shea. She had been
contemplating selling one of her mini-ponies when she discovered
PERSONAL PONIES on the internet. It sounded like a great program to
her, just as it had to me, so she e-mailed Marianne, just as I had done
a few months earlier.
Jenny wanted to know more about me and my family
before she would make her decision. I shared our story with her, and
after speaking with her husband, she told us that her seven year old
gelding, Shane, was to belong to our daughter, Claire.
We drove to Spokane in October to pick up our
darling new pony, Shaney. Claire fell instantly in love with him, as
did the rest of our family. Our oldest daughter, Kelsey (age 7), our
son, Ty (age 5) and Claire (age 3), rode him all around the paddock. He
was so gentle and willing and loving that it seemed as if he had been
doing this for years. When I asked Jenny about training, she said he
had never before had anyone on his back! But she added, that because he
had such a wonderful personality, she had been sure he would be just
right for us. We took Shane home and introduced him to his new
surroundings and he acted as if we had been his family all along...
Since we've had Shane, we've taken him to
pre-school (right inside the building with sixteen 4-year olds all
hugging and petting him at the same time!) and into the basement of the
Grange Hall for a Kiwanis presentation. You should have seen him walk
down twelve steps into a room full of people. Did he ever make an
impression that night! We have also begun training Shane to pull a
cart, and like everything else we ask of him, he take to it easily and
without hesitation.
We all love Shane and can never thank Marianne or
Jenny enough for this wonderful gift. We now want more than ever to
give other children and their families the same kind of joy that Shane
has given us. PERSONAL PONIES is truly a unique and wonderful program.
Our story does not end here. It will continue as
long as we have Shane and as long as we know there are children out
there who need a “PERSONAL PONY” of their own. That sounds like a whole
lifetime to me!
UPDATE:
 February, 2001 - Claire
is now five years old and is still enjoying her pony, McShane.
And to make things even
better, the
Harding family recently decided to participate in our program as
volunteer breeders and promoters to help even more children benefit
from the work that we do.
In early February, the Hardings received three
broodmares (CANDY, WHINNI and FAWN) that were gifted to our program by
Debi Jones of Eugene, Oregon. Moving ponies in winter is not easy, but
as often happens, help came in the most unexpected way.
Just at the time that emails were flying over the
PPL Chat List looking for help transporting the ponies, Penny and
Willie Stroup discovered our website, joined the chat list, and decided
to become volunteers! A day later they drove to Eugene from their home
in Mount Vernon, Washington, and brought the three mares to their own
farm which was only a four hour drive away from the Hardings. In
another day, the Hardings were able to make the trip and bring the
mares home to their farm in Manson, Washington.
The mares will soon be joined by new hubby,
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (affectionately known as FRANK), a PPL stallion who
has been with Christina Woodruff, Asst. State Director of Arkansas.
FRANK was specially chosen to complement the mares and Christina
graciously agreed to send him west for a few years to help establish
the first breeding farm in the Pacific Northwest.
Thanks to the cooperative efforts of Debbi, Penny,
Willie, Christine, the Hardings and State Directors Jenny Shea (Washington) and Jules Guillen (Oregon), our very
first breeding farm in the Pacific Northwest has become a reality. This
is the kind of unselfishness and teamwork that makes this organization
so special and a good example of why we say it takes a village to
provide ponies for our special children.
Our thanks to all and best wishes to the Harding
family as they begin their new breeding program!
The Hardings live in
Manson, Washington. You may contact Kristen Harding, Claire's mom, at
(509) 687-9679 or by email at jk-harding@email.msn.com.
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