THANH LUONG- LESSON FROM A PONY first part

Lesson from a pony

One day, our neighbor, Curtnal Carter, rode his horse over to our house. He had another horse with him. He rode to me and said:
“You’ve helped me a lot during the year. You’ve been a good boy. Now, here’s the horse I promised. It is yours.”
At first, I just stood with my mouth open and looked.
The horse was a white female, a mare with brown sparks.
I had never seen anything so beautiful and she was mine, all mine.
“What’s wrong?” asked Curtnal Carter.
“Don’t you like her? She is as fast and brave as a wild horse and she has a sense of fun.”
I did not hear a word he said. The only thing I could say was:
“Gee, thanks, thanks.”
Curtnal Carter got down from his horse. My new horse jumped and lifted her front feet high in the air. Then she put her nose into his coat pocket and took a piece of sugar.
“She knows me.” said Curtnal Carter with the wild smile:
“I’m the only person who has touched her. She is a kind animal. Remember this, boy, you can lose her love easily.
If you become angry, if you hurt her, she will never obey or love you. You should teach her very gently.
It is your job to feed her, clean her and give her water.
Put her at the end of a long rope and let her play.
Call her name and gently pull on the rope.
She will soon learn to come to you when she wants water or food.”
He talked for half an hour telling me how to train my horse. When he finished, I said:
“Can I have her now? I want to begin right away.”
He left me and went to town with my father. I walked away with my horse.
The first thing I did was to give her a name. She was so proud and carried her head so high. I named her Queen. She liked me. I knew it because she obeyed me and seemed to enjoy it.
Later, when Curtnal Carter came home with my father, he asked me about Queen:
“You should not train her hard today”he warned.
“She has walked all the way from my farm and it’s tired. You must think for her. Be kind to her as kind as you are to your sisters.”
Sisters, I thought and felt guilty. I never tried to be especially kind to my sisters. I did not like girls very much. I did not say that. But Curtnal Carter laughed as if he knew what I was thinking. He told me that the horse and I had to be like one animal. I was the brain and the horse was the body. I liked that, Queen and me together.
From then on, I was with my horse every day. I taught her to run around in a circle to go one way then turn around and go another. I broke a piece of wood from a tree and used it as my training stick. My small sisters wanted to help me. I let them do some little things but I gave the orders. One sister put the rope around Queen’s neck and led her around and around. When I lifted the stick, Queen turned and went the other way. She was a quick horse and learned fast.