Borderstone, reading your last post and its reference to "little book" reminded me of *another* childhood frame-of-reference memory that this song triggers--and I hadn't even been aware of it before!
I know you were referring to the little book that came with the "Songbook" set, but I recall a very small, red-covered book called "Ponies" that I insisted my Mom or Dad read to me every night before I would go to sleep for about 2 years when I was a toddler. (And, boy, did they get sick of it!) I know it was still around in the 80s, because I got it as a gift then, but I haven't seen it since.
I think if I *really* tried, I could recite the whole thing, even today--anyway, I know it starts with:
"The ponies all stand by the fence where they're tied
while the children buy tickets so they can ride."
Does anyone else remember "Ponies," the novel? I wonder if Gord might have been inspired from reading/hearing it read to his oldest kids in the 60s?
There is no "pony man" in the book, BTW, just kids, who are paired up with various-colored equines.
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