he horse world lost a renowned teacher of young riders last December, one whose career spanned four decades.

She was a legend in Chester County, Pa., and many remember her as the best riding instructor they ever had. But what makes her story most impressive was that this teacher wasn’t a woman, but a pony.

It was about 1970 when Helen Sarenson purchased Minnie Maid, whose age when she was humanely destroyed was estimated at about 40. Before that, she started a number of her students on their road to top professional, junior and amateur careers.

No one knows much about her first home, other than that she was an orphan foal and was raised on a bucket. Sarenson took the pony to the Crompton’s Runnymede Farm in Gum Tree, Pa., where she taught their young son to ride.

Bobby Crompton, now 43, recalled that of all the ponies he had as a child, “she was about the only one that didn’t dump me consistently!”

Bobby rode “Min-nie” all over his family’s large farm and showed her in the early 1970s in the short stirrup division at local horse shows. Younger brother Jay inherited Minnie, and she taught him the ropes too.

Elwood Young, farm manager at Runnymede, still smiles whenever he remembers the pony mare.

“She was just a sweetheart. You couldn’t ask for a nicer pony to start out on,” said Young.

He explained that Minnie could uncannily assess a youngster’s ability, and she knew which ones she had to take care of.

“Whatever a kid could do, she could do. But she would never do more than they were ready for,” said Young.

Tim Durborow, who worked with Young at Runnymede, remembered, “She really just came from a backyard to be Bobby’s first pony, and, as it turned out, she was a great teacher for him and then dozens of others.”

Durborow remembered that they would take Minnie to nearby Derbydown in Kennett Square, where some of the kids would school and show her. One of those kids was Sissy Wallace Wickes.

“I had the honor of riding Minnie when I was about 9 or 10,” says Wickes, now a respected professional. “I still remember jumping her around an outside course–I think it was the Maryland Pony Show–and thinking how lucky I was to be riding this wonderful pony!”

Another Derbydown protege, Gail Trivits Szczecinski, showed Minnie occasionally when she was 10–she thinks Minnie was 5 at the time. “I remember riding her in the small pony hunters at Upland and Radnor,” recalled Szczecinski, now an adult amateur competitor. “She was so brave–nothing bothered her.”

Not A Disability
After Bobby and Jay graduated to larger ponies, Minnie moved to Derbydown, where Mary Warner always had plenty of junior riders for her to teach.

Warner’s daughter, Louise Serio, remembered Minnie as “just a great all-around pony. She could jump around as cute as any of them with a kid that could ride, and, yet, she was about the quietest, kindest, best lesson pony of all time.”

Kristy Foster Dance, who went on to be very successful showing her junior hunters Taravarant and Magic Word with Derbydown, got her start on Minnie in 1975.

“She was just the most steady and kind pony to ride,” Dance said. “I remember you were considered the lucky one if you got Minnie in the lesson. She loved her job and never pinned her ears or showed any other pony traits.”

Of course, Dance noted that she rode “one-eyed Minnie.”

Not too many years after she moved to Derbydown, Minnie had an accident that eventually caused her to lose her right eye. But it never caused Minnie much of a problem, and, surprisingly, it wasn’t a problem for her young students. According to Hilary Simons, who taught with Warner for several summers at Derbydown’s pony camp, it may have made many children understand that a disability, whether in a person or a pony, isn’t such a big deal.

“When they first met Minnie, Mary would always tell the kids that the indentation caused by Minnie’s missing eye was ‘the special spot where you put your kisses,’ ” said Simons.

Both of Serio’s children, T.R. and Chrissy, learned to ride on Minnie. T.R. displayed his independent nature early; instead of riding show hunters like both his parents, he made Minnie a cow pony for a few years.

Chrissy, now 22 and competing in the amateur-owner jumper and hunter divisions, remembered Minnie fondly.

“Minnie was my first love as far as ponies go,” she admitted. “I remember when I was about 4 my grandmother used to lead me around on Minnie all over the place. We’d even ride over to the neighbor’s cornfield and pick corn!

“She was just a wonderful pony. Even when I had advanced to my first real show pony, Tomboy, I would still hop on Minnie bareback in the paddock–without even a halter–and just have fun riding her around,” she recalled with a chuckle.

Entitled
Minnie lived a happy life at Derbydown for close to 25 years. Despite residing among all the fancy show hunters, Minnie was never overlooked. Perhaps it was because of her unusual color–kind of between liver chestnut and brown–or maybe it was just her reputation as a great teacher. Whatever it was, she always had a fan club.

As she got older, Minnie wandered around Derbydown loose much of the time. “Minnie just thought she was entitled to go wherever she wanted, and she did,” said Simons.

She laughed as she remembered one instance when her daughter, Sophie, about 4 at the time, was riding Minnie in the ring.

“I got busy talking with someone, and all of a sudden I realized that Minnie and Sophie were gone. I ran up to the barn, and there was Minnie munching hay in a stall, with Sophie still aboard. I think Minnie just decided Sophie’s quarter was up and the ride was over!” Simons said with a laugh.

Although it took much longer than average for her age to show, Minnie was eventually ready to retire. Derbydown’s veterinarian, Dr. Kay Stewart, provided the perfect home for this legendary pony at her nearby farm.

There, Minnie would be monitored carefully but would still be acting as teacher to Stewart’s 2-year-old daughter, Katie. Katie, now 8, said growing up with Minnie in her backyard gave her confidence to ride other ponies.

Kay chuckled as she recalled that, despite being almost deaf and losing most of the sight in her remaining eye, Minnie seemed to have “some kind of built-in radar that told her when it was time to eat! She was always very vocal. She’d start nickering for her breakfast about 5:30 every morning!”