Animals at the Broz's Part 1 of 3 Parts

There are several different times that we had different animals at the Broz household, so I thought I would prepare you as to what to expect.
Part 1 Ponies
I have to start by giving a short background. When I married Dorothy, her parents became the the most wonderful in-laws anyone could ever have. They accepted me as their son, and I enjoyed being in the family. My aptitude test showed that first I should a doctor, and next I should be a farmer. What a pleasant surprise it was to learn that Dorothy's parents owned 1 acre of land of which 1\2 was not being used. Previously her dad used it as a vegetable garden as well as for raising chickens which included a chicken coop. This was actually well built and could be considered as a small barn.

Now this was shortly after the twins were born, and that gave us 5 children with
the oldest about 8 years old. I asked my father-in-law if I could convert the chicken coop into barn for a pony. Also if he would be willing to take care of it for us as well. He was originally from Oklahoma,and he had some experience with horses when he worked on a ranch. He said he would do that and we could use the little barn for a stable. I was delighted and proceeded to prepare the now stable for a new adventure.

Checking the newspaper, I found an ad selling a carnival pony that was used for riding children while being lead. I thought that was perfect and I was all excited. However they said that the pony was in fold. I pondered about that for awhile but decided that that wouldn't make any difference. So I bought the pony.

They delivered the pony with the instructions that she needs a bale of clover hay every day and a bushel of oats every week. I had a station wagon, so I was able to do that every week end. I also needed a saddle and a bridle and some blankets. Our pony was back, so I bought most of the things in white. Now we needed a name for her, and Dorothy named her Queenie. The next weekend we got Queenie all dressed up, and brought the children.

Now I was surprised, the children were frightened and didn't want to get close.
So I showed our oldest how to put his foot in the stirrup helped him into the saddle. I led Queenie around the yard, and all the other children relaxed.

Several weeks later, Dad called and said you have a little colt. He said the colt was partially showing,and he helped by pulling on the two front hoofs. This was a female, she was white with large patches of brown. So her name became Patches.

To be continued