Ginger, a longtime member of the Teachey and Lenfestey families died Monday morning. She came into the Teachey family a fat bellied brown and white pony, when Jennifer was five years old. For fifty dollars we got the absolutely best "babysitter" anyone could have. Jennifer and her sister spent hundreds of hours on Ginger's back roaming the world of Oakley Road. Ginger #1 Pony became the words on all the school notebooks (in hearts where most girls write boys names). I remember looking out and seeing Jennifer lying on Ginger's back observing the clouds while Ginger mowed the front lawn. For a time some of her pals were goats - the stinky kind. When at last Noble loaded the last smelly male goat to transport to his new home, Ginger had to be locked in her stall, she was trying to follow her pal down the road!
Not everything always went smoothly. Once Jennifer came hobbling into the house crying. Ginger had fallen on the highway with Jennifer on her back. Apparently it was too gar to walk home with a bleeding foot so she got back on and rode home. While I never could get the straight story of why they fell, I was glad we were living on a quiet street with few cars! Jennifer had a bleeding cut on her foot for which she wanted NO attention. So while my child cries in the house, I am out pouring peroxide on the three cut and scraped legs of Ginger. Both recovered well.
Then came the pony cart. My husband, noted scavenger that he is, spotted a broken, bent grocery cart in a ditch and brought it home. The idea was to cut off the bad parts, leaving the bottom rack and wheels, which were ok, and use it for hauling things. In addition to its regular duties the cart became a pony cart. A bale of have on the cart, a various accumulation of ropes, and harness artfully and skillfully applied to Ginger and the cart and they were off! Ginger liked to run and the neighborhood kids all squealed in delight as they rode around. Frequently Ginger managed to tip the cart and throw them all off. From the happy screams that must have been the best part, after all they were too close to the ground to get hurt!
We moved Ginger to Hampstead by the back of the pickup truck. Thanks goodness traffic on Castle Hayne Road in the middle 80's was not as busy as it is now. Wooden railings were placed on the truck side (they were as high as the truck roof) and Ginger was led on and tied to the railing at the truck cab. I followed close behind to be sure no one would run into the back of the truck Ginger rode like it was something she had done everyday!
Our new location brought many new adventures with 600 acres of woods behind where we live. Jennifer and Ginger probably covered every inch of it. During hunting season, they were confined to our 10 acres as well as her uncle's ten. We didn't want Ginger mistaken for a deer!
After Jennifer married, Ginger was a lonely girl, standing around vacuuming up the pasture. We had a number of people ask about buying her and the answer was always no. Although we bought Ginger, her future was always in Jennifer's hands and even Donald Trump doesn't have enough money to by Ginger!
Eventually, Jennifer moved her to Lonesome Pine Stables to be with other horses. There are some miniatures at Lonesome Pines and Ginger immediately adopted them. For a while she made it extremely difficult for any two-legged critters to get near her new babies! In recent times she had lost the vision in one eye to cataracts and was gradually losing her barrel belly and Jennifer knew the time would come when she must be put down. We didn't want her to suffer any. Apparently, she died peacefully sometime during the night. Farewell #1 Pony.
