THERE ARE FAIRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN

Look what I found today!!! Sheltie is turning into Pegasus. Apparently he is an orange belt in flying lessons and will get bigger wings as he improves...
The snow is gorgeous but means he can't stay out all day. He has a wander about while I am there and then goes back into his deluxe stable when I leave at dinner time. He gave two little girls rides last week and was good on lunge but I could not risk him off lead, the girls were beginners. Now weather is bad he is having a bit of holiday just a little ground work each day. Last week though he long reined all the way from here around Hartshead Pike which was a good hour's walk and he went really well except for a couple of power struggles when passing his old gate and when two ponies ran to fence and spoilt his concentration. I was even able to hold both reins in one hand on way back and he is responding to a squeeze on them for directions...pretty good eh!

SHELTIE PUT A SMILE UPON MY FACE!!!

Today I have to say, Sheltie excelled himself. He makes me smile anyway but today he made me BEAM! Little things mean a lot to some folks don't you know?
I have long reined him a few times in the winter paddocks now. I want him to be able to give the small kids a ride on soft going in the future, and so need him to realise that everything he does outside the field can be done inside.
After the first time when there was a little power struggle for direction he has taken to it really well. I can do all the turns with gentle rein aids and he went up and down hill too. Today I had to stand him and wrap all his reins round as the shepherd had called the sheep and they were all at a gate on our side unable to move on. They usually go under the rails but we had to close the gate so Sheltie did not go away over the furthest field too. I left him and let the woolly ones out and by the time I had turned round of course Sheltie had bobbed under the tape on the other side of the paddock to rejoin his friend. They graze like this...the two ponies go onto one side of a field and Sheltie being little is able to graze under the tape into the next paddock too. When I work him in there I go on the side away from the old pony so we do not disturb her and so she does not come over when I give Sheltie a treat when he has done well. The sheep graze here too and they are able to get under an even smaller section of rail at the bottom onto rougher land again. Sheltie has not bothered about them at all which is nice and from a distance it wold be hard to tell if it was a sheep bottom or his you were looking at.
Anyway, back to the story.. I stood with my hands as if I had the lunge line attached to him (from the distance of about twenty feet on the other side of the tape fence still) and moved my hands as if drawing the line in. Sheltie came straight up! He ducked the tape and then right up..what a good boy. I took his bridle off and let him loose but then asked him to walk on as if on the lunge, holding my arms and the schooling whip in a shape. He went around me, very wide and back into the next field...but then, ducked back under the fence and did left and right rein circles completely free with a "stand" and "come in" in the middle before I gave him final treat and said we were finished. Is that not one cute, clever, special pony???
The photo is an old one, we are not at that farm any longer , I just liked hs face .

Who's a clever boy then?

Well, it has been seven weeks now since saying goodbye to Spice. A friend said that grief was like standing on a beach with your back to the sea, having a lovely time when suddenly a big wave crashes over you. Other times smaller waves lap at your ankles. That is a good picture, I am getting along ok than suddenly a wave of loss comes over me. If I sound chirpy in the blog it is because I can be, but it is not always so; for the sake of any readers' sanity I will not mention Spice again in these adventures of Sheltie. Sheltie has settled so well into his new home and has already come on in leaps and bounds in his work. He loves his stable and walks in from the paddock without an escort! He is a friend to Fudge, Goldie and Whisper. He would make a fantastic companion pony as he is so sociable with others, but that is not to be his destiny yet. He has finally understood what I want when long reining him. He responds to the signals to turn left and right with just a tweak on the reins, and an open rein to allow him to turn. He is able to do a figure of eight and circles now, without stopping or booting me. He has stopped mouthing the bit so much and carries it quietly . I even trotted him on long reins this week to prove we have control at speed. I am very proud of the way he has changed in the last year, if you read back to January I was as thrilled when he finally understood lunging. You might think that we are making slow progress but I want him to be rock steady in the things he can do, not just say that he has done it once...If you read between the lines of some horse sale adverts you get the impression that "has had tack on" means literally that and just once! I have also sat on him a few times...short of a mount now aren't I. He has carried on grazing or walked a few steps. He has not batted an eye as I have hitched my welly over his rump or shifted about to get comfy. I am only on for a minute and he is not concerned, so when a small child wriggles he is not even going to feel it. Also, to get off I put my hand on his neck and lean a little, again he ignores my movements. This is really to make him a safe mount. I am long reining so that he will understand rein aids from a rider though a child would never be left alone on him anyway.Got a crazy teacher friend who is tiny though and I expect to see her off the lead one day!! I have taken him a few walks back around his old farm on Hartshead Pike, and he is really doing well leading now. Remember back in Spring he was very nappy and I had to go back to some change of direction work. It has all paid off. Five days a week I do a short training session with him after he has had a couple of hours grazing while I do stable jobs. He comes away from the others nicely, does his little tasks and then has a big roll when released as if to say thank goodness that is over. He is a lot of fun and a source of exercise and through him I met my new friend with the lovely stables and land, so most everything in the garden is lovely ...just don't mention the S word xx

AND THEN THERE WAS SHELTIE

When you take on a pet you are responsible for all its needs. The final need is the hardest to face but has to be faced. Life does go on and in this case Sheltie has needed to be sorted and cared for no matter what had happened to Spice and no matter how awful I felt. There was a day last week when I did not even like him. I was so sad to lose Spice and he was running around the hill in the dark with the mad arab mare for company refusing to come down from the ten acres and the mare threatening to drive me away except for my big stick. I found myself thinking what was the point of him. Why stress out in the wind and the rain for a little beast who would squash you rather than go around you and obviously felt no bond. He was not in my good books and for three nights after losing Spice I left him to run. The Arab was too dangerous to deal with on a dark wet hill so I saw him in the mornings and did not attempt to go up after work. I knew that he would soon go wild and woolly again in these circumstances. Without the wise old girl to set the lead he was taking his cue from one a lot less biddable. I took the offer from a friend of a stable on her land. There are post and rail paddocks with controlled grazing and no ragwort. Sheltie has a stable as big as my kitchen with the units taken out. It is at the end of the trail around Hartshead Pike so we can go for long walks without going on the road, and he is tucked up in bed each night learning to be a pet pony and not a feral monster. It is the Hilton for horses and Sheltie has settled instantly to a new routine. He loves his new stable, there is room to lunge him inside it!
He walked up the two miles last Saturday night as good as gold on the road past Hannah's through Thornley Lane and up Lane Head. Only ten months ago I had to pay for a box to move him the same distance as he was so difficult. He did excel himself and looked so cute and winsome Ha.
He has made tentative friends with the other two ponies here but can graze alone if necessary. He is learning some manners from my friend, she is an excellent horsewoman and will not let him be rude to her. She is an angel in disguise offering a home here, lights and flat paths for me in the bad weather and all covered paths etc. She wants no rent from me either. It is all a yard should be , safe and orderly. The routine settles the ponies and I know things are going to be cleaner and easier than I have ever had them in 9 years. Perhaps God is looking out for me in my old age now!
I restarted serious long reining yesterday which was stopped almost as soon as it started when Spice took ill. He has had his bit and long reins on and fed through his stirrup leathers. I have been teaching him to walk a circuit, whoa and gee up with voice and rein pressure. I am close up behind him, probably too close for comfort but he knows me. Just as well when I had to bump start him with a knee under his tail DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS .He got the hang of it today and actually halted and the set off again on command. I had quite a tender moment with him inside the stable I sat on my stool eyeball to eyeball with him and he stood and enjoyed a chest rub for ages without doing anything rough. When you sit down he looks a nice size, but when you stand up he is really only diddy, all 8 hands of him. Thanks to my friend there has been a silver lining to my big black cloud. Thanks to Sheltie my life still has the rhythms and routines of horse keeping. Imagine if I did not have the little one, what would I do now? Two other friends have offered to let me ride their cobs but I don't feel a need for that at the moment. Spice was such a steady ride I haven't been on another horse for nine years and I just loved being around her as much as the riding. Horses are very calming because you have to be calm for them and it comes reflecting back deeper and deeper. When you hug them they seem to give you strength and peace. Sheltie is just the wrong size to turn to for comfort...he is more a distraction and a plaything than a romantic hero.
Without Spice to save him Sheltie is really going to be getting some work done, if he thought he was busy before he is going to be in for a big surprise: this is the start of thenext chapter in my life and his.....

THE SADDEST DAY

I did not know that when I told you about my beautiful mare that she would be gone a month later.I had to have her put to sleep today, with some progressive mental degeneration. She looked sweet and well till you saw her stumble and act in an aimless manner. She had begun to lose weight and had a bout of colic after which it was just a downward path with no return. She did not suffer, the end was painless and stress free she still was beautiful but the time had come.I do not know how the hole she leaves will ever be filled nor the pain and loss I feel will ever fade. I loved Spice every minute of the nine years I had her. Sheltie has got a hard act to follow, I don't think he will ever have the same charisma, she was gentle through and through, never knew the meaning of temper. I am glad to have been able to give her a peaceful and dignified end but I wish it was not so soon. Goodbye my darling, and she was a darling.

HERE I AM no wonder she loves me

NOT FORGETTING SPICE

The blog is about life with Sheltie but those of you who know me might think I am ignoring the first love of my life.(apart from my girls) Of course I have not forgotten nor have stopped loving every inch of Spice. So today I am going to just tell you all what a lovely old mare I have and how special she is. She is Sheltie's adopted mum in his eyes but in her eyes he is just a white hairy object orbiting her at regular intervals.
Spice is a 14.2 hh Irish cob. She is bright bay with a white blaze and hairy feet and is in her early twenties best we know.
I have owned her for nine years and she has been an absolute dream to keep. She is not the smartest looking pony, nor the fastest or cleverest at schooling BUT she has carried more children and adults about for treat rides than probably any horse outside a riding school. She has had babies sat on and special needs adults . She has stood like a rock while small tots brush what they can reach and she has never put a foot wrong with them, in fact she stands so still you would think her legs were nailed down. She has been a steady hack, willing for a bit of a burn up but ready to drop the pace as soon as asked in her younger days. She walks past revving buses with traffic on the outside of her, the only thing she has ever said she is scared about is hissing hoses on a car wash and even then she will accept guidance at a safer distance, for which I forgive her as her only long standing worry, even though she will let me hose her legs when a necessity.
She is calm and gentle, wise and beautiful. She never gets into scrapes or hurts herself. She is wearing the same tack as when I bought her. She lives out and is a real good doer, in winter she can be in when she wants but it is only this last year that I stabled her regularly to ensure she dried off and filled with hay as the snow lasted ages.
As a family pony she has been a treasure, easy to do, cheap enough to run and so undemanding. Every day I see her I have to kiss her. She stands and gazes back into my eyes and I just hope that in her animal mind she understands that she is loved and appreciated and safe, she is the best thousand pounds I have ever spent. I would rather be in the field or stable with her than anywhere else on the planet.xxx

one more step along the road I go

This week Sheltie has excelled himself again. I have not been off the land lately as he was so nappy and I have been quite insistent with lunge work at different paces on the land. I also used the small birch trees as bending poles and have done a lot of stop start etc.
This week I made the decision to hit the road seriously. We left the gate and set off. Sheltie skittered once in the first few minutes as a car came from behind us and then seemed to settle. He never napped at all ! we took a circular route which is 7/10 of a mile..I know cos I drove it later..sad I know but it is a measurable achievement. He had a steady stream of traffic up his bottom plus we walked on the road towards oncoming traffic part of the way. On a quiet bit a few little girls came to see him and they stayed on their garden wall at his head height to pet him. I explained that if they did not offer titbits he would not learn to eat their fingers. I carried the lunge whip and tipped it out towards the road, as a bit of a signal to cars not to come too close. The walk went so smoothly, he had his ears pricked and had a nice steady pace, I felt as if I was leading a really sensible pony. A few nights later I repeated the walk. No issues at all. I actually tied a bit of rag to the end of my whip so that cars would really think "what the heck is that up ahead" well the drivers, not the cars.. it also served as a brake if I tipped it in front of Sheltie when he wanted to walk faster than I asked. He was not bothered by our flag swishing about over my shoulder. I probably look absolutely barmy walking along with a white flag above me and 8hands of apparently docile sweetie pony behind me, but I know the dangers of traffic and the potential for sweet looking ponies to be naughty. Having said that however, I feel Sheltie has made another leap of faith with me and accepts my leadership and trusts me in the new situations he is meeting. If he coped with the traffic each time he is not suddenly going to revert to being scared. I just need to keep up with the bigger walks now.
He also gave two small children a few laps on each rein in the barn this morning without any fuss, even standing and then changing direction when I commanded from the centre, he was on the long line but has done the same off line with a five year old last week!!
If he was my child I would be embarrassed to gush on about him but cos he is God's own creature I feel nothing but pride in his development. Creation is wonderfulxx
by the way, my daughter Laura was 21 on the 21st July and my second daughter Hannah married Kieran on Saturday 24th so they were pretty good days too. SORRY GIRLS, you know I love you really xxxx

If you read back to the March blog you will see that I began lunge work in the barn and hoped to progress to outdoor work when the land dried out. All going as planned there. This week Sheltie has taken his skills to a new level. He worked on line in the barn and then with the rope wrapped round his neck. He walked and trotted on request, plus changed direction without the line on. He also did the same with all his tack off. This was pretty good I thought and all the more so as the barn door was wide open and he was free to leave at any time. However, I then took him outdoors and repeated his lunge work. On line both directions, then with rope around neck and finally totally free, no tack at all. We were on land open to the main field with gates open and the other two horses grazing nearby. Sheltie was amazing. He stretched his circle out which meant he had to go around a couple of trees to complete the circuit, but he did continue until I said stand. He changed direction though he threw in a rear for good measure on setting off, and he trotted his new lap, again weaving about the trees to make the larger circle, As soon as I called stand he stopped and faced into me. When I pulled an imaginary line through my hands he came up for his reward. Is this not amazing when you think he could not lunge at all at Christmas, and now he understands and obeys in open acres of land! with no ropes on him at all...wow!

birthday boy soon

Sheltie is four years old on the 27th or 28th of this month. Today I put his bridle and bit on and did all his work with him tacked. He clattered the bit about a lot at first, but never rubbed his head or stressed. I led him around and it seemed to me that he followed more willingly, I was not using the bit for steering but I think he was so baffled by it that he felt he ought to stick close! I was able to lead him in lots of figures on the field, towards and way from the other two quietly grazing. Sheltie didn't try to force the direction at all and when I wanted him to turn away from me I used the inside rein and just gently tweaked it so that he could feel something. I kept the walk up for a lot longer than usual, trying to set him up a bit to tell me he had had enough, but he never. He was extremely biddable and when I finally stopped I had quite a bit of unbuckling and stuff to do. He never moved a foot whilst waiting for me to remove all his equipment. I think he is a little treasure. xx He shakes front legs well. Now I can pick up hind legs and do same, I just pull one out and say "and shake" as I wriggle him about! He is very trusting,the point of all my messing is to make him trustworthy for handling not just party tricks for the sake of.

A view over Mossley and me giving the wee man a pep talk.

happy in his work?

Sheltie is so lovable. Today, because I was quite short of time I planned just to say hello and put suncream and fly spray on the ponies. I had a really long ride yesterday so Spice was in no rush to do anything anyway. The ponies were grazing so I took my bits and pieces to them and gave them a mane brush in the sunshine. Sheltie is accepting a serious groom now without backing up but today I just brushed his mane and tail. He stood really nicely and even let me put sun cream on his nose without a fuss. Spice had the same beauty treatment and then I kissed them goodbye and took the kit back to the barn. I walked back down the path intending to climb over the street gate and leave them to graze, but Sheltie suddenly came over to the fence and followed me to the open gate that comes onto the path.
It was as if he thought I should not be going as I had not actually made him do anything (for a change). He came out of the field to me and then stopped in front,hinting that I might have nice things in my pocket but not being pushy at all. I reckon he was confused because he had not done any of his usual tricks so there on the path I asked him to shake hands, lift his feet, back up, come forward, and shake his back feet which is my latest game for him. (When I pick up his back feet he always drops his sheath..boys bits..and I presume this is a sign that he is relaxed about the business) He went through his party pieces and accepted the one solitary pony nut in the bottom of my pocket and then he was happy for me to go. What a sweetie! He would be wasted as a "lawn mower", he is really sociable and funny and I love him xx

OUT 24/7 AGAIN!

Well, another month has whizzed by. The weather is picking up and the ponies are now out around the clock. The new land is not lush, quite hilly and well drained with a short turf in most places so although I keep an eye on the size of the ponies I am not too anxious about the dreaded fat pony disease Laminitis. As soon as the ground was dry I took the lunge work out of the barn and now Sheltie is coping with a full length rope and working at a walk and trot. When I say working I actually mean going round in a circle at the speed and be able to stand and come in as I request. When I bring him into the centre I make him shake hands and do all the touching all over stuff. He is so good at that he forgets he was broncing around a moment earlier and settles straight away..good stuff eh? I never thought the day would come! I have tried to encourage him into a canter, but this seems to make him a bit giddy at the moment so I am backpedalling a little, he is like the nursery rhyme character with the curl..when he is good he is very very good and when he is bad he is horrid... but I don't mean that really, I have to remember that he has a mind of his own and may not quite understand what I want, or, more than likely he is just being a stubborn little shetland monster and choosing to be awkward.
The farrier came on Tuesday, a trim for the both of them, £34 total. I can see how Sheltie has improved in his behaviour and Neil said that if Sheltie stands and behaves as well next time as he did this time then I can say he is "good for farrier" as in good to catch, clip etc!!! how is that for progress!! Little things do please me. Also this week I have walked Sheltie out into the street off the land. I have tried this a couple of times previously since moving here, but it is quite a busy road and Sheltie was quite jumpy and unsettled away from the other horses. I put that on hold for a while, but now he is so much more biddable generally I thought I would make a bigger effort. He has been out three times in three days and not disgraced himself at all. He stops to have a look at stuff but is leading really well and seems to be trusting me to look out for him, when a wagon did make him jump today he jumped and turned to me rather than starting off in a blind panic. I think it took him by surprise as he was investigating a litter bin we were passing and his mind was probably on his belly when the lorry bombed past us. Poor pony did jump. I had to laugh though after reassuring him and telling him he was brave,as I am having to sing hymns to calm my nerves as we walk along! It is the thought of him going beserk and having an accident that would worry me, but he has been pretty good so far and I do a bit at a time,trying to build his confidence.It is a lot like having a baby, once you start you have to finish and as I have opened the gate so I have to go forward etc. I do wonder sometimes how old is too old to be playing with ponies and will I realise when I get to that age?

Sheltie has a human friend now

It has been a while since last message, purely because life is so busy and so good with the ponies each morning that I only fly into the house to get clean for work and then off out again in the afternoon. I have had a young friend working the ponies for the last few weeks too. He is eleven and not in school at the moment so he has become my little helper. He has bonded with the Shetland so well that he can pick up feet and lead the pony around. Sheltie seems to recognise a kindred scallywag as he responds well to Conner's control. When I think back to how wild Sheltie was it is heartwarming to see a young boy leading him about confidently, this is the first time I have been able to trust Sheltie with a child entering his stable to feed and collar him, it shows how much the pony is developing.
I bought a cavesson head collar for the wee man so that when I attempt proper lunge work and long reins I will be organised. I am able to walk behind Sheltie quite confidently now, he shows no inclination to pick up the heels and when he does turn his back end towards you it is for a rub on his bottom rather than a life threatening gesture!
I also had a new stable door fitted as Sheltie had booted the bottom panel out of the old one in retaliation for Sophia the Arab mare chewing on the outside of the door while he was inside. I had a galvanised metal grid gate made so it is unchewable, small enough to not get nose or feet in, non rusting and he can see through it and not feel left out. I don't know if I am the first person to go metal, draughts are not an issue in the barn, but PREDOMINANT ENGINEERING MOSSLEY made it for me and although it cost around the £100 mark it will never (!) need replacing or painting so it could be a good thing.

Learning new skills..me and him

This winter saw me move Spice and Sheltie to a new barn closer to home and much more private. The benefit was immediate as the snow at the end of 2009 made it impossible to drive my car at times, but I was able to walk up to the barn twice a day. It took half an hour going, uphill, and 15 minutes on the return journey down hill which tells you something of the gradient!
Another bonus is the fact that there is room in the barn to swing a shetland pony..never mind a cat. Sheltie had not been able or willing to work on a lunge line up to December, and by work I simply mean go around in a circle calmly. Brief efforts to teach him with Laura (daughter) assisting simply led to him looking cute and confused or stroppy and unwilling. The techniques for starting this new skill are much written about and I promise I did my home work, but the tricks to get him walking away from me were not working.
When Mum came to visit and help at Christmas I worked out a way to help her keep Sheltie back if she felt he was getting a bit too close for comfort. This involved swishing a picnic blanket much in the way that Spice would swish her tail to warn Sheltie off. My attempts to bombproof him during our earlier time had worked a bit too well you see, a long whip waved at him was totally ignored and a carrier bag tied to the end of a shorter stick, to "keep the pony out" on the circle, was promptly attacked in case it held food. I had to go bigger and so the nearest thing to hand was a blanket with a waterproofed backing. It worked immediately.We looked a bit stupid I guess carrying a green rug around but Sheltie respects that rug! He will stomp on it if I leave it on the ground but as soon as I quietly pick it up he watches me carefully.
So now we can walk on, trot and then come back to walk or stand on a line, just by the magic rug being held up down or wriggled a bit.The enclosed space in the barn gave me a perfect working area all through the bad weather. Now things are improving we are doing the same stuff outside when possible. I will try to reduce the amount of fabric required as time goes by so that I do not look like a bullfighter gone wrong. I do not worry about time scale here, it took Sheltie eighteen months before he would pick his feet up. Eighteen months of daily lifting, praising, dodging the kicks and persevering was what it took and then one fantastic morning as I ran my hand down his foreleg he snapped that little foot up as smart as you like and gave me his foot WOW! no one knows how good that felt, and from then on he picks all four up as good as gold but has to have a treat afterward. He will then give a foot for shaking if I tap his knee, and then swap legs! That skill is for when he is saddled and needs to have a leg stretched to sort the girth, but for now it is Sheltie learning to shake hands xx

Here is Sheltie, at three years old, standing like a really sensible pony. This was taken at the farm on Hartshead Pike. Do you like his wonky love heart patch?!

My first post was really long because I wanted to give the background, I will just do bits as I have time now. Sheltie was unwanted because he was unplanned, the previous owners had a paddock and decided a couple of goats would be useful to keep the grass down. They asked a local horse dealer to fetch a pair back from the horse sales for them. When the dealer returned he had a pair of Shetland ponies in tow.. As the size was pretty similar to a goat(?) the ponies were taken on a trial basis and then kept and called John and Jewel. A year later a foal was born ,though initially the owner thought one of the ponies had had a leg drop off when she saw a white thing lying in the grass. One of the ponies was a stallion but I guess with his fluffy coat and his underparts being below the line of vision it had not been noticed. John was castrated pretty quickly, but not quick enough as a year later our Sheltie arrived. The first foal was found dead one morning, presumably a tragic case of colic, about eighteen months later. The owners decided to part with the remaining colt, it is one thing to have two quiet mature ponies grazing but the youngster would need work etc. and the decision was made to ask around for a new home, which is how I got my hands on him.

Shetland pony tales from Mossley

This blog is for all the people out there, big and small, who have wanted a pony of their own.
When I was very small I fell in love with horses. My dream was to have my own. This love has persisted to the present day but it was only in the last ten years that the dream became a reality when I bought Spice,a cob mare, for myself and my daughters. It was two years ago that the subject of the blog-to-be came into my life and I began to want to record the bits and bobs of life with him. He is Sheltie, the shetland pony. This blog intends to be a record of life with him; to give those of you out there still dreaming the chance to see and share the ups and downs of making the dream a reality. As a teacher of young children I also hope to impart some horsey knowledge along the way.

The adventure began when my husband passed a message on to me,asking if I knew anyone who wanted a free Shetland pony foal. I had already left teaching in school to work for myself and this gave me lots of free time to enjoy looking after Spice. As she lives out, and is a very laid back character there isn't very much to do once she is fed, groomed and ridden. I still had time to spare. The moment I heard Peter's question I thought that it would be a really enjoyable experience to bring on a young pony, particularly as it would be a very small one. I am not a fool and did not wish to be wrestling with a big breed, I am not that much of a horse woman despite having kept Spice for years. Peter did not realise I had really meant it when I said "yes, me " in response to his question though, and it was a couple of months before he realised that I was the proud owner of another furry friend...oops!

I went to visit this cute Shetland foal, I could picture it so clearly, small and fluffy, so tender and vulnerable as well as unwanted...(how wrong could I be?) Harry, as he was called was a very well grown colt of 18months with little handling and no manners. He was built like a rhinocerous, had no intention of letting me near him and scared the pants off me if I was truthful. Little pony mad girls be warned ...pretty ponies kick and bite as well as squash you. However the seed was sown in my mind, this was my challenge now and delivery was arranged after a month, so that I did have a little familiarity with him before he was moved to my yard.

He arrived at the start of the Christmas holiday so that I had a good two weeks to spend as

much time with him as possible every day. His journey in a horse box was uneventful, he ate out of a bucket for the whole fifteen minutes trip, bracing his fat little body without coming up for air. He leapt down the ramp on arrival and looked around rather like the hard man of the neighbourhood. Considering he had never seen anything apart from an enclosed paddock and his two parents he was amazingly cocky. He was towed to a stable as his head collar training was not yet in place and proceeded to trash it during his first night away from mum and dad. Buckets and bales of hay were rearranged quite violently through the darkness and when I arrived early in the morning he was standing four square in the stable ready to take me on too.

From then on days merged one into another as I encouraged him to lead into a quarantine field, let him exercise, and then take back to his box. He was renamed Sheltie as there was a Harry on the yard already, and Sheltie sounds as cute as he looks. He was a quick learner when things were in his interest and he soon picked up that the head collar was ok as he was brought back to a bucket of food each day. Catching became a case of not being knocked down in his rush to be caught and "BACK" was the essential command.

Leading him was another matter, his strength was and is phenomenal, there was no danger of me developing "bingo wings", my arms were permanently locked and braced to stop me being towed along. Every day I did a little and every day things changed. If we were heading towards the field or the stable he gave the impression of being an amiable wee soul, even dawdling behind on a loose lead rope. If I wanted to venture in a different direction though, he was a monster, excellent at reversing and better still at suddenly whizzing round in front of you to reverse his route. He would make a good sheep dog with the technique he developed and I had to make up my own technique to outwit him.

My first major assault on Sheltie was to have him gelded as soon as possible. He was a stallion and needed sorting. Whilst under the sedation I had the chance of my first quiet cuddle with him, a taste of things in the future perhaps when he was no longer wild and fierce. He was adorable at that moment, sleepy and soft, leaning on me and gently snoring while his personal parts were sorted for ever. I did suggest that I kept him tranquilised but that was not to the vet's liking! On the same day I started Sheltie's vaccinations, a worming programme,his passport ordered and a micro chip inserted for good measure. There is no such thing as a free pony, he cost three hundred pounds in that one week!