Teen Brings Pony To School, Gets Charged With Breach Of Peace

Rusty · #1 06-07-2008, 11:20 AM

By KIM MARTINEAU |The Hartford Courant5:50 PM EDT, June 6, 2008

WESTPORT - A high school senior who brought her pony to school Friday morning, partly as a prank, partly to protest high gas prices, was charged with breach of peace after school administrators called police.

Sarah Friedson, 17, walked her chocolate-colored pony, Cocoa, to Staples High School, to celebrate her last day of school, holding a sign that read "Save Gas" on one side, "Staples 2008" on the other. Her father, Ronald, drove behind in the rain, his blinkers flashing.

When they reached the high school parking lot, Friedson's friends flocked to the pony to pet him. School administrators, citing concern for the students' safety, called police.

Both father and daughter were charged with breach of peace, a misdemeanor. In a statement released hours after their arrest, Westport police said both had ignored a security guards warning to keep the pony off school grounds, along with an earlier warning from school administrators.

Ronald Friedson, 50, said the 20-year-old pony, blind in one eye from a cataract, is incapable of harming anyone. "It's a fat old pony," he said. "He looks like something out of a cartoon. The only danger is if you're a carrot."

For many years, Friedson sold riding helmets and saddles at the Tack Room in town but has since moved his business online. Cocoa lives with the family on a four-acre former riding school.

The elder Friedson accused the school of overreacting. "I said to the kids, 'Watch out for the bureaucrats shutting down your right to free speech.'

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OK so they were warned... that STILL doesn't erase the mean-spiritedness of the school administration in charging her that way. It was the last day of school and they should have lightened up IMO.

Kid Lester · #2 06-07-2008, 11:28 AM

Way to send a graduating senior into the world...with a criminal record for bringing a pony to the school parking lot.

Panama Girl · #3 06-07-2008, 11:38 AM

Some school admins are just horses' asses.

Kid Lester · #4 06-07-2008, 11:40 AM

I always thought a pony was a young horse. Can a pony be 20 years old?

Panama Girl · #5 06-07-2008, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kid Lester

I always thought a pony was a young horse. Can a pony be 20 years old?

A pony is a horse under 14.2 hands (58") in height.

Kid Lester · #6 06-07-2008, 11:51 AM

Below 14 hands and 1 finger. Got it.

wendy · #7 06-07-2008, 05:58 PM

That administrator must have been having a slow day. I can't imagine one of ours having the time to spend on something so trivial.

__________________
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"The best way to make it through with hearts and wrists intact is to realize that two out of three ain't bad..." FOB

longnecker · #8 06-08-2008, 02:10 AM

They walked this pony to school in the rain and the administator has to be that nasty..Must be a real fun school!!

lewin · #9 06-08-2008, 07:32 AM

I hope they both fight it in court and win. some school admin are nothing but jerks. most were the kids that were picked on in school and now they are taking thier revenge out on todays youth

Tracy · #10 06-08-2008, 08:47 AM

I personally think calling the cops is a tad silly. However, to play the devil's advocate, the girl herself stated that she was doing it to protest high gas prices. When you are engaging in an act of protest, you have to accept the fact that you may be arrested at times. Many protestors wear their arrests as badges.

Teen Brings Pony To School, Gets Charged With Breach Of Peace

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