A pony owner's regret after lending his pony to a lady who whips and drives him hard through the mud. A useful, gentle opening for talking about kindness to animals.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
I had a little pony,
His name was Dapple-Gray,
I lent him to a lady,
To ride a mile away.
She whipped him, she slashed him,
She rode him through the mire;
I would not lend my pony now
For all the lady's hire.
About this rhyme
Text confirms the pony was whipped and ridden through the mire, and the owner refuses to lend him again 'for all the lady's hire' - eight lines total.
A small story with a moral built in: a lent-out pony comes back whipped and ridden through the mire, and the owner won't be lending him again. It's one of the few nursery rhymes with a proper narrative arc, cause and consequence in eight lines.
Ask afterwards whether the lady should have taken better care of him.
Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition