Dandy’s story is made special because he was the first wild pony we ever encountered. Our memories of him are remembered through the eyes of young children; although he was mustered from a mountain and unhandled, I’m sure he wasn’t as wild as the Kaimanawas, Mustangs or Brumbies we have tamed in recent years. But to us he was the wild stallion of our dreams — just like the ones we’d read about in our favourite books. As the first pony Vicki ever trained, Dandy has taught us countless lessons, many of which stood Vicki in good stead when she won the World Championship of Colt Starting in America. So thank you Dandy for helping to define our formative years with horses!
Dandy’s story, and the entire Showtym Adventures series, is based on true events from our childhood. First and foremost, we have to thank our parents for allowing us the opportunity to own ponies, even when it made no financial sense do to so. Every success we have had with horses has been because of their sacrifices, and we are so appreciative that they passed on their love of horses to us.
As young children we learnt that we had to work hard for what we wanted, and since we valued riding above most things, we didn’t mind the hours of hard work required to keep our dreams alive. We are thankful our parents encouraged us to wholeheartedly chase our dreams, and never told us it was impossible to change our circumstances. We never heard the word ‘No’; rather Mum and Dad would ask, ‘How were we going to make it happen’. We developed a strong work ethic because of their support, and always looked outside the box to solve problems.
Because we couldn’t afford well-trained ponies or riding lessons, most of what we learnt was from our ponies themselves — and often the hard way! Through this process of trial and error, we learnt compassion for our ponies. They were our friends and we treated them as equals.
There were many times, however, when we were ignorant and made mistakes, but we hope our ponies understood that we always had kind intentions. The past two decades have been dedicated to learning as much as possible about our four-legged partners; we know so much more now than we did at the beginning. We also realise that our current understanding will be a shadow of how much we’re going to know in another 20 years!
Alongside our parents and our ponies, are my two sisters who made this book possible. We were lucky to be the best of friends growing up, always going on adventures or making mischief together. I consider myself lucky to have had such a rough-and-tumble childhood, and I hope that one day my own kids can enjoy the same kind of adventures as we had in the great outdoors.
Lastly, thank you to the thousands of young riders we have had the privilege to teach over the past 12 years. To every rider that has attended our Showtym Camps — thank you for keeping us young and reminding us of our own childhood. Swimming ponies in the river, having mud fights, playing Tip ’n’ Out are still some of our favourite activities at camp. You can often forget to have these moments of genuine fun as you transition to adulthood, but it’s because of you we have realised that you can’t always take life too seriously. We hope we have helped each of you develop the same passion for our equine friends as we have, and have encouraged you to never stop chasing your dreams — because we know firsthand that anything is possible, no matter your circumstances.