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Updated: May 29, 2025
Then he led him out of the barn, clutched the basket, the tin pail, and the reins as well in one hand, mounted, and then reached out his other hand for the pole, which he had leaned against the side of the barn. "I'll show Father that he's mistaken," he said to himself. Up to the moment that Johnnie Green reached out a hand for the long fish pole Twinkleheels had behaved like a little gentleman.
Once Twinkleheels would have chafed at having to suit his pace to Ebenezer's. He would have thought Ebenezer's gait too slow. But ever since Ebenezer won a race with him in the pasture Twinkleheels had thought more highly of his elderly friend. He knew that if Ebenezer chose to take his time it wasn't because he couldn't have hurried had he cared to.
"There's a slight difference," said Ebenezer. "I see there are some things you've never been taught. Colts were different when I was a yearling." Twinkleheels looked almost angry. "I hope," he snapped, "you don't take me for a yearling. Just because I'm a pony and small you needn't think I'm an infant. Why, I'm five years old!" Old Ebenezer yawned. It seemed as if he was always sleepy.
In spite of his resolve to be on his best behavior, Twinkleheels had been tempted to pull his foot from between the blacksmith's knees. And if Ebenezer hadn't explained that he was in no danger of losing a foot there's no knowing what might have happened.
"Can't you answer when you're spoken to?" Twinkleheels cried at last. "Yes!" they said, speaking as one for they always did everything together. "Yes! But you haven't asked us a question." "Is this true what the bays told me about you?" he snapped. "We can't deny it," they chanted. Twinkleheels was never more surprised. And that night it snowed.
The bays looked at Twinkleheels then. They looked at him with envy. "That pony has begun to eat up the new oats already," said one of the bays to his mate. "I hoped he'd have the decency to decline them when Johnnie Green offered him a taste." "Not he!" groaned his mate. "That pony even hinted to Johnnie Green that he'd like some oats. I saw him hint, out of the corner of my eye."
Ebenezer said. "That's only the forge. That's where the blacksmith heats the shoes red hot, so he can pound them into the proper shape to fit the feet." Twinkleheels had trembled with fear. And now he had scarcely recovered from his fright when a terrible clanging clatter startled him. He snorted and pulled back.
Old Ebenezer woke up as Twinkleheels pattered over the barn floor. "What!" cried the old horse. "Back again so soon? Did you race with Bright and Broad?" "The snow's too deep for a good race," Twinkleheels told him. "Bright and Broad don't mind the snow much, do they?" Ebenezer asked. "Oh, no!" Twinkleheels answered. "They're getting on slowly, up the road. They take their time, of course."
"When rising from the ground one should stand on his hind feet first." "I don't agree with you," Twinkleheels told her. "Ebenezer uses the right method. But he's terribly poky about it. You can almost hear his joints creak." The Muley Cow was somewhat offended. "I've known Ebenezer a great many years," she snapped. "I don't care to hear a young upstart a mere pony make fun of him."
Especially after the circus men came along and pasted posters on the barn Johnnie Green liked to ride bareback. He had a notion that some day he would learn to ride standing on Twinkleheels' back. Farmer Green, however, did not approve of that plan. When Johnnie mentioned it to him he said "No!" in a most decided fashion. "That pony would be sure to throw you," he told Johnnie.
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