Flicka is a 10.1 hand Shetland pony. She is also called a pinto, which is her color. She is a classic looking Shetland pony and has the dished little pony head like most Shetlands. She will be 6 years old this year. Flicka was rasied as a true little "country girl" on a pony farm. Her father, mother, some of her sisters and brothers, aunts and grandmother, all were with her on the pony farm. Not many ponies or horses are raised like that anymore. But it was cute to see all of her relatives all together.
However our sweet little Flicka was just 3 years old when we got her. If she hadn't been so pretty, we would of probably never bought her. Because Flicka was WILD!! This is one of those stories, where there was a "look in her eye" that said please buy me. We had to chase her down to catch her. And then when we did, she kicked both back feet on on my husband. If you have seen the movie Flicka and seen how the wild horse in that movie acted, that was just like our little pony Flicka. Though she was wild, she was also very smart. Within a week of owning her, she gentled down remarkably. And after 3 weeks, she would follow us to be petted. Now she practically begs to be petted and babied like the other ponies. You can gentle a wild horse if you know what you're doing but it does take a lot of patience and repetition. You also have to be firm and know when to be in the right place at the right time. The wrong place can get a couple of hind feet on you real quick that might leave some bruises where you don't want them.
Flicka LOVES to be petted and fed treats. She is a real sweetie and loves to be ridden especially if she can follow her best friend MerryLegs. Because she hangs out with Merrylegs so much, she's getting chubby too. But she looks real cute round and rolly polly. Flicka has a secret crush on Midnight, which she hasn't told MerryLegs about since MerryLegs and Midnight are an "item".
Flicka is also very protective of Merrylegs and though she is small, she will challenge any of the larger horses if they walk by her paddock looking too bossy. Most ponies can be "all talk" but since Flicka was raised as a country girl, she is tough like one.
We have been training Flicka to pull a cart, which she has adapted to very easily. Flicka has been a sweetheart to do anything with and has been the most trusting little pony. Everything we've done with Flicka has been easy since she is so willing and a sweetie.
Flicka has been in alot of parades over the last 3 years and been shown in a few western classes. She is a typical Shetland and not much scares her. Most Shetland ponies are pretty laid back but can be head strong, especially when it comes to food.
Ponies can be like hobbits they can get themselves into little adventures that are pretty soon over their heads. Flicka is just like the typical Shetland pony which means she can be very, very mischevious. In October 2007, her and Merrylegs "escaped" from their paddock, then crawled under the fence in the back of our property, went through the woods and all the way into Youngsville. All together, they went about a mile away. While we were all panickingly searching for Flicka and Merrylegs, they were filling their fat little tummies with grass! After we had alerted the local police and then hiked through the woods, we had about given up. Awful scenarios ran through our minds of them being stolen, hit by a car, fallen into a ditch, etc.. But after a frantic hour, the police called us back and said the ponies were in downtown Youngsville. When the escapees heard us calling them they ran into a grassy lot on Winston street and we had to catch them out in the open field. Merrylegs, sweet as she always is, came to us pretty quick. Flicka reverted back to her country girl roots and ran around the field till she saw that Merrlyegs wasn't following her and she finally gave up. Then we had to lead them alongside the road, which was a much longer route than through the woods. That was their big adventure for the year and hopefully their last ever. Ponies in general are notorious for the "grass being greener on the other side of the fence" and finding the smallest places to get out of their paddocks.
(Parents please note: (Shetland ponies can carry up to 100 lbs. and Midnight no more than 140 lbs. Most of this is due to the sizes of the saddles.)
