Before John and I became parents he would always joke about my spoiled upbringing.  I will admit that I was a very lucky little girl and had a lot of privileges that many would dream of having.  One of things John would rib me about were my horses.  Yea yea, I was one of those little girls who said, "daddy I want a pony" and actually got one.  A real live horse.  As a young child I would ask to go to the Great Falls stables in the evenings to pet and feed carrots to the horses.  My first tooth was lost because I was standing on a fencepost and fell (hitting my chin) when a horse decided she didn't like the little kid pestering her.  I spent much of my childhood and teen years on horseback - trail riding, showing, jumping.  It was a hobby and an outlet for me.  My father still has horses - he fox hunts and his girlfriend plays polo.  It is definitely in our blood. 

The first time I rode a horse was at my 5th birthday party.  My parents called a local pet farm and they brought one of their little Shetlands over so that my friends and I could ride in circles around my backyard.  John says that is where it started so when Kate was born he vowed that she would never ever have a pony at any birthday party.

Until now. 

A few days ago our local library had a pet farm come to their "backyard".  Thankfully, the library is literally a 5 minute walk from our house so my mom and I put the kids in the stroller and went to see the animals.  It was really cute - they had chickens and ducks, a horse, a donkey, two sheep, and two goats.  Kate really took to the pony and donkey - she had absolutely no fear and picked up a brush (without prompting) and began to "clean" the donkey.  My timid, shy baby girl was in love and was a complete natural around them.  I was honestly shocked, but if she is anything like me, she will be asking for a pony in no time.

That night I sent Johnny a few pictures of Kate with the donkey



His response?