Now that Diva has been with me for several months, she is really beginning to find her feet and at times can be cheeky.
Although at maturity she’ll be only around 40 inches in height, it is important that she is taught manners just like a larger horse. Though small, Shetland ponies are renowned for their strength.
Although at maturity she’ll be only around 40 inches in height, it is important that she is taught manners just like a larger horse. Though small, Shetland ponies are renowned for their strength.
One day a friend offered to lead Diva out to the field for me so I could lead Mabel and Florence and only make one trip from the stables. I was in front as we walked along, and then all of a sudden I heard Ginny say quite calmly, “Diva is a bit fresh.” Before I could react, I heard sounds of a scuffle and Ginny saying, still in a calm voice, “Um… she’s a lot fresh.”
I turned around to see Diva bouncing around on the end of the lead rope with Ginny valiantly holding on despite the deep and slippery mud. With me leading a horse in each hand, the best thing I could do was to hurry the last few yards to the field so I could let them go and then help Ginny.
Diva looking settled in field having found her feet!
To say I found it funny is an understatement, and giggling like mad, I turned to Ginny and Diva. She still had hold of the lead rope, and Diva was still leaping about but luckily was going in the right direction.
With a bit more kerfuffle, we safely released Diva into the field and shut the gate. She went tearing off to catch up with the big girls whilst Ginny and I leant on the gate, laughing so much we could scarcely breathe! How Diva didn’t trip up Ginny I’ll never know!
The next morning Diva’s stable door had a cartoon by Ginny taped to it … Dangerous Diva! Indeed!
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The annual trip to Your Horse Live was completed and even my partner enjoyed a bit of it! Okay, he mainly enjoyed the cake stalls (and they were amazing – we took three bags of cake home with us), but also liked the rescue village and heavy horse yard. We got to go into the stable with two donkeys for pats and cuddles and we both loved it.
Five years ago, I had the absolute dream of having my own acreage, but this has honestly been the biggest learning curve, relearning so much about how to better look after our horses and what the land requires. Hopefully, I can give some insight into things I have learnt, mostly by trial and error and lots of mistakes.
After five or six years away from the British showjumping circuit, I’ve rejoined, and this time with my little Connemara standing just about 15HH – and he’s been amazing!