The Sisterhood Federation to Buy Horses

My sister had always been crazy about horses... always. She knew everything one person could know about horses- the difference between cream and cremello, the different gaits and breeds, and how ponies were proportionally different from horses. For years she had fantasized about owning a horse. At age five she had proposed to keep a horse in the garage. At age 10 she wanted to keep one at our farm in Wabasha. The scheme grew from there.

Not long after our 12th birthday we formed a top secret organization called the "F.B.H." If anyone asked we explained that FBH stood for "Fun 'Bout Horses." In actuality it stood for "Federation to Buy Horses." We had secret meanings in our clubhouse in the crawlspace, and I spent hours of each day compiling our weekly magazine for the FBH. The truth was, I couldn't care less about whether we got a horse not. I just had fun researching and writing the magazine.


My sister, I think, guessed that I wasn't really in to buying a horse, but she was glad that I helped. I was glad that when she was working on the FBH she wasn't obsessing about school and homework.


Soon, the FBH became more serious. Our parents had given a definite, unchangeable "no" to us owning horses, but we were still looking for loopholes. We soon found the perfect solution... miniature horses.


In case you're wondering, miniature horses are a special breed of horses (not ponies), that are under 36 inches tall. The smallest horse, named Thumbelina, was only 17 inches tall. They can live between 25 and 35 years old and have all horse-like characteristics. Personally, my thoughts were "what's the point in getting one if you can't even ride it?"


Before I knew it, though, I was deeply involved in searching for the perfect miniature horse. I went on websites like equinefinder, buyhorses, and agdirect and soon found the perfect one: an adorable, gray gelding named Skittles. My sister was smitten.


The next step on our mission, of course, was to talk to our parents. We spent the next few days pulling together our courage to ask them. I chickened out, of course (I mean, I didn't care about it anyways!), and finally it was my sister that plucked up the courage to ask. Guess what our parents said? You guessed it, no.


So, we decided to take it to the authorities... literally. My sister figured that if she could get permission from the city to keep a miniature horse in the suburbs, then maybe she could convince my parents. She fired away emails, letters, and 20-pages of evidence and essays as to why she should be allowed to keep a horse. Her friend, Natalie, even went to court over the issue! We argued the many issues why mini horses should be allowed- the fact that they were smaller than Great Dane dogs, that they made less of a mess and smell than most household pets, that they could be walked on a leash or used as service animals, and many other assets. Unfortunately, we still got a letter back a few weeks later... no. There reason? Horses were nuisances and no matter the size, were still "farm animals." End of story. My sister abandoned the horse scheme and now hardly even flips through her horse book or touches her 25 Breyer horse models.





I guess that's just the way it goes... We kids just have to wait until we're adults until we are listened to.