Learned theologians may not agree with me, but this is the way I believe it happened...

On the sixth day of creation, just before the Lord decided to take his well-deserved rest, a small angel tapped Him on His celestial shoulder and said, "You've done a wonderful job putting the world together, but, please, I hope you're not finished yet. I'm sure it's just slipped your mind, what with being so busy this past week, but there's one more very important thing I wish you'd create before you put your feet up. It's going to play a big part in civilization for years to come."

"I thought I'd covered just about everything in the animal kingdom," the Lord answered. "What could be left?"

"Please, if I may ask," pleaded the little angel, "Could you just create a pony? Every child in the universe is going to ask for one sooner or later. Could you please just think about it?"

"Hmm," mused the Lord. "A pony. Let me see, perhaps you would like to help me out in deciding what the basic parts of this pony should be?"

"Oh, yes, I would like that very much!" said the angel, clapping. "It's not going to be an easy task. There are many things to be taken into consideration when assembling something of this importance."

"Importance?" queried the Lord. "Why on earth would this pony be of such importance?"

"Because," replied the angel, "many lives are going to be entrusted to a pony. Miles and miles will be covered riding one. Contests will be entered that will have an outcome depending on how well the pony is assembled."

"Well then," said the Lord, "we must make certain that this pony is put together correctly."

"That would be very wise," agreed the angel. "I think it should have several hundred moving parts and a body sturdy enough to carry two or three children. It should have at least four legs that can be adjusted to any speed."

The Lord jotted this down in His notebook.

"Also," added the angel, "this pony should have big eyes that can see in many directions, including backward. This way the pony will be able to see the child trying to climb up his side and the one in back tying his tail to a Flexible Flyer and the one in front offering him Fig Newtons with all of his fingers exposed."

"It's going to be a pretty tall order," sighed the Lord. "Will all standard models have to be built the same?"

"I'm afraid so," said the angel. "And that's just for starters. Along with having eyes that turn 180 degrees, the pony will have to have hearing that's better than perfect. It will need to hear how close a car is when a child asks him to cross a road and the difference between a four-year-old girl shrieking, 'Whoa!' and a nuclear disaster siren. The pony's ears will have to swivel like rotating antennae to pick up any command, even if it's whispered with a lisp caused by two missing front teeth."

"Whew!" sighed the Lord. "Next you're going to tell me that this pony will have to have more intelligence than I've given to most of my other animals, including the human ones."

"But of course!" insisted the angel. "There will be those humans who dispute the pony's brain size and who will say that a pony is a stupid animal, afraid of its own shadow."

"But people who will say things like that will have to be reminded that the Lord wouldn't create an animal with a silly brain and then entrust him to baby-sit a toddler. What human would put his child on an animal with legs that run like the wind and who has sharp hooves and big teeth, but not a sensible brain?"

"I see your point," mused the Lord. "Then what you're saying is that often this pony will have to exhibit more sense than the person who owns it?"

"Now you're getting it!" shouted the angel, clapping her hands with excitement. "If a child puts a bridle on a pony backward or the saddle on his back without fastening the girth, the pony must adjust to the child's forgetfulness.

"If the pony is asked to walk where it's dangerous, it must be able to know how to take extra care to keep the child safe."

"That's asking an awful lot of an animal," the Lord said quietly.

"To be sure it is," agreed the angel. "And that is why you must give this pony an extraordinary dose of self-preservation, for a pony who takes good care of itself will surely take good care of its child."

"It sounds like a very serious sort of an animal," said the Lord.

"Oh, heavens, no!" replied the angel, chuckling. "This pony should also have a sense of humor, for how else would it be able to accept being dressed in knee socks and a feather boa for Halloween or tied in the pasture and used to tag for third base?"

"It appears that in this case a 'one-size-fits-all' syndrome won't apply. Since I've made children of many sizes, I suppose we'll have to make ponies of various sizes," said the Lord.

"Yes, but it won't be as much trouble as it seems, really," promised the angel quickly. "Because you see, you can cover them all the same. Not that you couldn't use your imagination a bit and make them different colors, perhaps even with spots and dots, maybe with two or three colors on a pony at once or lots of dots that would make the leopard laugh!"

"Now, now," said the Lord, smiling. "Let's not get carried away. Imagine, a leopard-spotted pony, indeed!"

"Then," the angel continued, "it would be useful to coat them all over with a short hair suit that could grow long when the wind blew and the cold snows came. When it got warm the long hair could fall out. That way they could be comfortable anywhere in the world!

"And they could have long hair growing down their necks, which would be useful for little children to hang on to, and long, flowing hair on the back end to swish bugs and to decorate with ribbons."

"Oh, fanciful angel," smiled the Lord affectionately. "So, this pony should have strength and beauty, brains and a sense of humor. Can you think of anything else before I get started?"

"To tell the truth," answered the angel, "which I always do, I think this pony should be given the capacity for compassion and forgiveness. A child will be an unpredictable human and from time to time might treat the pony unkindly. They might even hit the pony for no more reason than they cannot get it to understand their bidding. But because the pony will understand forgiveness, it will try again and again, day after day, to please the child."

"But don't you think," added the Lord, "that it would be only fair to give the pony a way to express displeasure?"

"Of course," nodded the angel in agreement. "Since the pony won't be able to talk, we could let him show his unhappiness. We could allow the pony to put his ears flat back and shake his head fiercely, but not if a child is resting her cheek against his neck. We could let the pony stamp his feet, but not with a child standing near them. We could let the pony swish his tail hard, but not with a child standing behind. We could let the pony hold his breath, but not while a child is climbing aboard."

"In other words," said the Lord, "the pony should cause no harm."

"Never with any intention," said the angel softly. "The pony will understand a child's love is shown in different ways, because the pony must have compassion. Some children will tie flowers in their pony's mane or hug their pony's face so hard they get peanut butter up its nose. Some will sit in the straw and sing songs to their pony or spray it with their mother's favorite perfume so the pony smells wonderful.

"The most important purpose for the pony will be to teach the child," said the angel. "Even if the child never learns to ride very well, the pony will have taught the child about love and laughter. Long after the child is grown they will remember the feeling of galloping across the pasture and hugging the furry neck of a pony who will always be their friend."

"I'd better get started," said the Lord. "This is a very important animal, and I may be up all night putting it together. By the way, what are those things on your feet?"

"Oh, these are riding boots," answered the angel. "I'm waiting for the first pony to come off the assembly line!"

Originally published in Cooky McClung's book of short stories, "Horse People Are Still Different." Reprinted with permission of the publisher.