Poki Roni Horse Farm

Poki Roni was a very special place for me.

Growing up in Michigan I never had my own horse close by.  My horse, Mid-Night, lived far, far, away in a place called Mexico.  My uncle, who has a ranch down there, gave me a horse when I was seven years old.  Every summer from the time I was seven to about 15, I would go to Mexico and see my horse.  Every time we headed back to Michigan, I cried and cried.  My mother would appease me with riding lessons and renting horses.  It actually was wonderful riding in Michigan.

One day, when I was 16 years old, I went home and there was a for sale sign in front of my house.  My house!!  We were moving to Texas.  I was not happy at all.

When we arrived in El Paso, January, 1982, I hated it.  I reminded my mother that for the last 10 years she had promised to bring Mid-Night to El Paso if we every moved down there and we did.  Shortly thereafter she was on the phone with my Uncle.  Mid-Night was moving to the United States.  The Mexican Cowboys wished they were that horse that day.  Moving to The US with papers!!  Legally!!

Where was Mid-Night to live?  I tried the phone book but only to find a few mobile homes in East El Paso where the lots were littered with broken down cars, and skinny old horses.  Nothing like where I rode in Michigan.  Lush green hills with thick grass, woods filled with rainbows of leaves in the fall, blankets of snow in the winter, and spring with mud and rain.  No, no, no.  This wasn't my dream at all.  Then one day, in the miserable high school, that I hated, a girl was wearing a jacket that said Poki Roni Horse Farm.  What is Poki Roni I asked her.  It's a horse farm where people keep there horses, go to horse shows, have partys, take lessons, and ride out in the desert.  Where is it? I asked.  Can I board my horse there.  "Of course, she said."

Then one day, Poki Roni changed my life.  Travis and Linda Kiker got an old Chevy Car, a blue horse trailer, and went off to the Clint Feed Yards to pick up Mid-Night.  And there she was, at Poki Roni.  The blackest horse any body had ever seen.  And so beautiful.  A black Quarter Horse.  Everyone loved her.

There are so many stories of Poki Roni.  So many memories.  I met my husband there and a few years later, we got married and had a beautiful young family.  Unfortunetly, he ran off with his secretary and that part of the dream ended.  But Poki Roni went on.  My kids are still with me and the story continues.

But one of the saddest days I will always remember is the day Mrs. Kirchner died.

So many things had plagued Poki Roni in the recent years.  Mrs. Kirchner's health was failing, she wasn't as strong as she used to be.  She and Travis had lost half of their savings in the recent stock market crash.  They were being sued by neighbors, one of which was her own very sister for use of the road that brought business to Poki Roni.  El Paso was growing and chocking Poki Roni out of existence.  60 mile an hour traffic whizzed by the peacful ranch.  Homes were sprouting up a stones throw from The Poki Roni Ranch sign.  People who moved in years after Mrs. Kirchner were complaining about the flies and the manure.  It was a constant fight for Travis and Mrs. Kirchner.

Then came that terrible day when Mrs. Kirchner died and Travis was arrested.

Travis is gone now too.  A result of a suicide while he was serving a sentence of 29 years for killing his mother.  The memories of Poki Roni are still in my dreams and I am lucky to have them.  There are 1000's of people like me who have some memory of riding a horse, smelling the hay, and sitting under the barn in a west texas rain storm to watch the rain.  But for the kids of today, they won't have that.  Poke Roni Brought the Old West to our backyard.  It's gone now.  Only the pictures and stories remain.  There are a few pockets of horseback riding for kids still today but it seems to be a dying sport.

Horses in the city constantly face the same issues that the Kirchner's face.  Houses, traffic, noise, and less and less space to ride.

May Travis and Mrs. Kirchner rest in piece.  They were my friends.