Stories my Dad told me- "My Little Pony"

My dad grew up in Ukraine and had some interesting stories to tell...here's my favorite one. If it proves popular, I might re-tell some others in the future.

My father grew up on a small farm in and although probably just 10 or 11 years old, was entrusted to take care of the farm animals and protect them like the valuable assets they were. In the course of doing this, he also developed personal attachments as well. I remember him telling me how when his mother told him to "get" a chicken for dinner, that she called the chicken by it's given name. There was no going to Whole Foods to buy an organic chicken. You went into the backyard and grabbed the unlucky chicken whose time had come.


On this fateful day, my dad was driving a pony led wagon

somewhere on the farm, back to the barn area. The pony was one of my dad's favorite animals on the farm. They were driving in a sort of sunken roadway , perhaps a dry culvert, with rather steep sides. As they progressed, my dad noticed that very dark storm clouds were quickly gathering. With no place to turn around, or seek shelter, he pressed onward. A severe thunderstorm struck minutes later and it started to rain with an incredible intensity. The rain did not let up  and within a short time, the previously dry culvert began to fill up with water from the flash flood. The pony was frightened and my dad struggled to keep it from panicking.

The water level continued to rise and it soon became apparent that the water was going to be over the head of the drowning pony in a few minutes unless my father acted quickly. He unhitched the terrified pony and struggled to try to lift up his beloved companion over the culvert's steep embankment.. He could not get a proper hold on the now freaked out pony. My dad realized that he needed to get a firmer grip  so he bit through the pony's blanket, into the pony's flesh, to solidify his grasp. With almost super human strength, he then  managed to lift the terrified creature over the culvert's embankment and onto safe land.

He climbed up and over the embankment himself and fell down in an exhausted heap with his pony.