I'm a Cowgirl...On A Real Horse I Ride

There had been a pony ring in North Miami as far back as I can remember. It was located on West Dixie Highway but by the late 60's it was replaced by high rise apartments. The rides were relocated to where the ponies and horses were stabled, a wooded area on N.E. 135th St. and 16th Ave. No more twice a day parade of ponies being led through the city streets from stable to ring and back again. No more free fertilizer for the housewives who loved it for their rose bushes, conveniently left for the taking along the edge of the road.

135th St. had become a major east/west road connecting U.S. 1 and I-95 so plenty of drive by traffic now went by the wooded pony ring. A few years later the City of North Miami passed a bond issue to preserve the oak hammock as a city park but the ponies were allowed to stay.

My daughter Elena loved the pony rides and would get excited everytime we'd drive by. 1974 was the year she turned three. This was her favorite pony. He was gentle enough that he'd just plod around the ring without being led by one of the teenagers who worked there, and Elena could imagine herself riding off into the wilderness.

She had beautiful blonde hair as a child but for some reason known only to her she'd take those round nosed little scissors at the nursery school and cut it off when no one was looking. It wasn't until kindergarten that she took an interest in having pretty hair. She still has nice hair. Now she's a tax attorney in Atlanta.