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When I was 11, my neighbor Candy got a pony. Candy’s pony was a strawberry roan gelding named Frosty. Frosty was smaller than my bay pony, Dolly, but you could do just about anything with Frosty. Candy didn’t have a saddle so she always rode him bareback. Riding double on Frosty was quite common. I think we had as many as four of us on him at times. He patiently endured all of our foolishness. When he got tired of us he would try to take us under a tree. That was an effective way to get us off his back.
At that time we were living in a small, one-story house. There was a little sidewalk that led to the front door and into the kitchen. One summer day Candy came over with Frosty. We stood there at the front of our house talking when suddenly a little spark of mischief came into Candy’s eye. “I bet Frosty could walk right into your house,” she suggested.
I started doing some quick thinking. I knew my mom was inside and I doubted that she would consider a pony in our house such a great idea, but it would be awfully funny. Then Candy said the words that clinched the decision in my mind.
“You’re afraid to do it, aren’t you?” she challenged.
 Me, afraid? I was eager to prove that I wasn’t afraid of anything, so I grabbed Frosty’s reins as Candy opened the door. Didn’t I tell you Frosty would do anything? He just viewed this as another one of our adventures. He marched through the doorway into the kitchen. Fortunately Mom was not in there. At the end of the kitchen we made a left turn into the living room. Mom was in there! She was sitting in a recliner reading. The noise of our entrance got her attention and she looked up from her book. Was she ever surprised to see Frosty in the living room! I think I did see a bit of a smile cross her face momentarily, once she had gotten over the shock of seeing a pony in her living room and before she started yelling at us to get him out of there. I think Frosty was beginning to feel like he belonged in the house, but the three of us made a hasty exit.
Taking Frosty into our house certainly wasn’t the worst thing I have ever done in my life, but it wasn’t very wise either. Even worse than that was how easy it was for Candy to get me to do something that I knew was wrong. Friends have a powerful influence on us for good or bad. I heard a speaker recently say that when he was young he and some other boys talked one of their friends into diving off a high dive head first, no hands out, with a motorcycle helmet on his head. They wanted to see how loud of a cracking sound he would make when he hit the water.
Some of our pranks may just become amusing stories we can tell as adults, but unfortunately others may result in harm or injury to us or others. Some bad decisions made as a young person can start us down a wrong path that may have consequences for the rest of our lives.
According to Proverbs 13:20 “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.”
While these two examples are humorous, often our unwise decisions have more serious and harmful consequences. Be careful who you choose as your friends. Think for yourself. Don’t always go along with what everyone else is doing. Study your Bible. It is God’s main way to communicate His wisdom to you. Walk with the wise. Wisdom usually comes with age. Listen to those who are older and wiser than you. They have had a lot of life experiences that you have not gone through yet.
I hope to be able to train my filly, Keziah’s Jubilee (Kezi), by myself over the next few years. One thing I have started doing with her recently is called “ponying”. Ponying is a way of working with a young horse that is not strong enough to be ridden yet. The young horse wears a halter with a rope attached. In order for this to work you also must have a sensible and reliable well-trained horse. You ride this horse and attach the younger horse’s rope to your saddle horn. Wherever you go with the older horse the younger horse must follow.
Remember the Bible verse I quoted above? It applies directly to ponying. I want Kezi to walk with a wise horse and learn its ways. I definitely don’t want her to be the companion of fools and grow up to be a foolish horse. She might destroy herself and me! Which horse do you think I chose to be Kezi’s role model?
My horse is named Ginger. She is a wonderful horse to ride, most of the time, but she has some rather foolish ways that I don’t want Kezi to learn. One year we went trail riding several times where weeds were growing along the trail that had really big leaves. Every time Ginger saw those leaves she would snort and refuse to move. I guess she thought the leaves were some big monster that was going to eat her. Ginger also has the annoying habit of jumping or startling when she sees, or thinks she sees, something she considers a potential danger. For a horse in the wild those may be desirable characteristics, but they sure don’t make for a nice, relaxing trail ride. That is the type of foolish behavior that I do not want Kezi to imitate.
 Maggie was my choice for the horse to pony Kezi. Calm, sensible, reliable Maggie. Maggie goes on her way and almost always does whatever you ask without any silliness or foolishness. She walks down the trail keeping her eyes straight ahead without spying out the territory all around her looking for imaginary monsters to spook at. Maggie’s calm approach to riding will help Kezi gain confidence and trust in new situations. Kezi will be walking with the wise. I hope you will too!
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