Under the Sealing Wax: A Sixteenth-Century Boy and His Pony (That Never Came)

What is it about kids wanting ponies? No, really. What is it? I don't get it.

I guess ponies are cute, but I bet that most kids today would concede that it would be exceedingly impractical to own one. And yet, there is some mysterious allure to owning a tiny horse that persists even in modern times when our modes of transportation have increased ten-fold.

Before cars were invented, ponies must have been the equine version of Power Wheels for kids. They represented independence, mobility, and responsibility the same way owning a car does today. But they were just the right size! No doubt kids have been begging their parents for ponies since the dawn of time -- or at least for the past several hundred thousand years since the first pleistocine equus galloped its way into the first homo sapiens' heart.

In 1591, young Balthasar Paumgartner pined for a little horse of his own. His merchant father (also named Balthasar) traveled away from their home in Nuremburg quite often, so his mother Magdalena's letters kept his father up-to-date on the goings-on of their household and only child. Young Balthasar was very fond of getting presents and clothes from his father and once he became old enough to start writing himself, he conveyed these wishes clearly:

I am happy to hear that you have arrived [in Frankfurt] safe and sound. Please bring me a little pony. Ask Meringer [ostensibly a dealer] where you can buy one covered in cowhide. Also two pairs of stockings, one skin-colored and one black. I try to be good all the time and I study diligently. Make the best of my writing; I hope to do better soon.

1577, Alonso Sanchez Coello
Portrait of Don Diego, Son of Philip II of Spain with his hobby horse & spear

In this letter, Balthasar is asking for a toy pony covered in cowhide, possibly like the one pictured above. Six months later, the boy became very ill but his desire for a pony did not lessen. His mother wrote to her husband,

Please ask Meringer about horses. He knows where one can find horses covered with goatskin. The boy talks incessantly about a horse, but he has in mind a small living one. You may wish to buy him one.

1609, Circle of Jan Claesz
A boy with his horse & dog

Sadly, with no indication that his father ever sent any kind of pony, Balthasar died a few months later in 1592 after an agonizing illness.  But even while he was bedridden, Balthasar drew pictures of horses in his notebook and presumably kept hoping to ride his own horse one day.

If you're interested in learning more about Magdalena, Balthasar, and their world, check out Steven Ozment's book, Magdalena & Balthasar: An Intimate Portrait of Life in 16th-Century Europe Revealed in the Letters of Nuremberg Husband & Wife.