What little girl doesn’t dream of decorating her ponies? Ribbons and flowers in their manes and tails. There is a romantic old lullaby that I used to sing to my baby brother about ponies. I can still hear it in my mind. “Go to sleepy, little baby. Go to sleepy little boy; when you wake, we’ll play paddy paddy cake and ride the pretty little ponies.” The first time I saw the ponies at the Kentucky Derby, I fell madly in love with them. They are so beautiful with their ribbons neatly in their manes and floating in the wind behind their tails.  

The word “pony” doesn’t mean the little tykes of the equine world. Rather it is horse racing parlance for the full size horse who escorts the racehorse to the gate. They are like giant security blankets for the young 3-year-old Derby contenders who are filled with adrenaline and facing the noise of more than 170,000 fans. There are lots of things that could spook a horse, like feathers on fancy hats so the pony is often a wise old soul who coaches the young one how to handle the day. 

Torrie Ann Needham of Lakeside, Calif. is a pony rider at the Kentucky Derby. She has ponied at many Kentucky Derbys. She has ponied at the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park. One of her favorite horses to pony was John Henry! She is still excited that this year she ponied Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia. Today she will be ponying Danzing Candy and she is sporting his colors on her braid. On Derby morning she is decorating eleven ponies tails and manes. She goes to a local craft store days in the days before the Derby and selects ribbons to match the owners silks. She builds a diagram and organizes the ribbons into separate baggies. 

After ponying during the morning workouts, she arrives at the pony barn. She starts with the chestnut pony known as “Little Red.” He retired from racing at Churchill Downs last fall. He is extremely docile and patient as Torrie stands on a bucket lacing ribbons into his mane.  Depending on the horse, sometimes she needs a taller bucket! Using a comb, she organizes his mane into nine sections. Then she uses special braiding bands (designed specifically for horses manes and tails) to create a pattern in the mane where she will later secure ribbons. 

Next she moves to the tail where she puts in a simple pattern using the bands. Torrie said that she likes the odd numbers of nine ribbons in the mane and five ribbons in the tail. Little Red is escorting Mo Tom so his ribbons are a lovely soft blue and white. Nearby, the large pony known as Harley shakes his head and watches the commotion. They do his decorations last because he likes to rub his head on the door and remove the ribbons. It takes 30 to 45 minutes for each horse. 

When Little Red is done, she moves to the next stall and grabs a taller bucket to work on Liberty Bull’s mane. This handsome Kentucky-bred gray is a local celebrity who won the $600,000 Sunland Derby in 2008. He raises his head in mild annoyance but accepts Torrie’s calm cajoling and wheedling to behave. 

Most ponies do not mind the ribbons but sometimes they hesitate about having their tails decorated. Torrie said they will tuck their tails in and she has to coax them to relax and loosen up. She combs his forelock and mane and starts banding them into sections. He is wearing royal blue and white ribbons and will be the pony for Shagaf. 

As she grabs a hunk of his mane, she pulls a band out of her mouth and says “Everybody loves this. The pageantry of the Derby.  Even the men love seeing the ponies decorated.” The first time she decorated ponies was her own horse when she was ponying at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park. She used to use flowers but that takes days to prepare. It’s much simpler to use the ribbons as she can prepare them in one night. 

She continues working slowly and methodically on Liberty Bull. He has a magnificent tail that almost touches the ground.  He nickers as a horse walks by his stall. As Needham finishes another section and reaches for the ribbon, she smiles and looks at her handiwork. “Don’t you think this is pretty? It’s real festive to me and it warms my heart.”

Next door, two young girls stop by to pet the ponies. They shyly reach forward and then grin at the feel of a warm muzzle on their hand. It is often a young girl’s dream to decorate ponies and Torrie Ann Needham is living the dream on Derby morning. Be sure to notice the ponies as they escort the Derby contenders to the gate. The ribbons in the tail? All adding to the color and the pageantry of the First Saturday in May. It’s beautiful. And it is certainly something you will remember.