Here are some ponies stories and readers E-mails and photos!

 
Maddison and Magic

My name is Maddison, I am five years old and with the help of my mummy i want to tell you my story so far with my Magic. My mummy bought Magic for me and her to share a few months ago. When we went to see Magic she was a mess. Magic was covered in little lumps and rain scald. This was due to the fact that somebody had left her in a field to run free for two years with some others. She had also lost a foal three weeks prior to us buying her. This being her second foal at only four years old. You could not touch Magic and she had had to be herded out of the field and into the stable. The owner had managed to get a headcollar on her which was left on with a rope attached as she was very hard to get anywhere near, even in the enclosed space of a stable. My mummy was unsure about buying something so untame especially when it was for me to ride. My mummy decided to buy her as we felt sorry for her and couldn't leave her behind. Once we got Magic home my mum decided the best way to help Magic would be by using the intelligent way. My mummy asked Dawn her friend who helps people with I H. Magic came on in leaps and bounds my mummy has spent lots of time with Magic to get her now to the point that I can groom her and lead her round the yard. We are all really proud of Magic and the way she has adapted to everything. My mum is now riding her and soon I will be. We have even been clicker training her to come in from the field and it really is working.


love Maddison x
Kira and Tonto
Hi, my name is Kira and I am 3 years old, my computer skills are getting better although not quite good enough to write this story so I have bribed my Mum to do it for me in exchange for helping to poo pick later. My horse is called Tonto (and I have nicknamed him The Doctor as he looks very funny in his white fly sheet), he is white with spots and I have been told that he is an apple looser (I thinks this is because he cannot eat whole apples and has to bite them in half so they roll between his legs). He was going off to a big noisy place and be made into cat food (I have told my Mum that there is no way he would fit into a can unless it was a magic factory?), we paid a few bits of paper for him and picked him up in
John's lorry. I visit him almost everyday and like to groom him and pick out his feet, he will lift them up for me when I ask and I can also make him lie down when I ask for his front foot. Now he is better I love to ride him but only after I have groomed him and wiped his eyes, I have fallen off because he was a bit bouncy going up the field but now I have my own saddle and I am learning to keep my feet in the stirrups and I can ride without holding on now.
Tonto likes his friends in the field although they keep biting his
bottom and doesn't like flies so I spray him with a smelly mixture that Jo makes for all the horses, he stands very still when I do this and then gets an apple on the floor to say thank you. I like reading the stories on your website so I wanted to put mine on, I may come back again soon and tell you about a show we are going to.. I am still arguing with Mum over having pink and purple ribbons in his mane.

Kira

 

Michael

hello IH, these are some pictures of my pony she is really good and brilliant to talk to and I practice a bit of le trec on my obstacle. I have had her for 1year and when she is in the front field lying down I come and sit down with her like in the picture.

from michael

Sally and Ruby
Ruby was brought from the auction at 3 months old, from where we can only imagine. She was dragged from her mother, loaded and abandoned at the auction for someone to take pity on.
She was in extremely bad condition with her back legs crossed over which meant she found it hard to move around. She was really wormy, and very, very scared. The people who bought her for £30 couldn’t handle her as she would bite, kick and generally attack everyone who went near her, they didnt know IH methods. This was obviously because she did not have the safety of her mother to protect her which meant she was left to defend herself, in the only way she knew how! I dare say she would have been classed as being dangerous if she had been any bigger than 10hh.

So that’s when she came to Jenny’s, who agreed to take her on. She was left to grow up in a established herd free to roam Jenny’s large farm, with a brood mare for guidance, foals to play with and a big shire cross who we call Auntie Barney as he babysits every one in the herd. Once she was old enough Jen and Heather worked with her very gently. This included getting her used to people around her, as well as plastic bags, tarpaulins and other scary stuff.

I came along when she was about 18 months old. Everytime I visited the farm I would do simple things with her like leading her up and down the yard, backing up and things like that, as she would just plant. Once Jen saw Ruby and my progress, and help develop a bond, they started me off with doing some simple groundwork which included IH and NH techniques. She responded to these very quickly and Jenny and Heather soon saw the bond we had.

And it was then that I was given my first pony. I didn’t expect I’d ever have my own. We got so when I went up to Ruby she still made faces at me but she would not try and eat me or feel she had to defend herself, her trust in me shone through! Open a trailer now and she loads herself.

Once she was 3 years old I started taking her for in-hand walks and she soon got used to busy traffic. I started her in a saddle at 3, and did a week or two just walking in the field with me, with her saddle and bosal on. She is now 4 and I have started to ride her round the farm a little, she very quickly got the concept of my leg and voice aids and she trots happily round open fields with the rest of the herd calling for her, but still continues to listen to me. These last couple of days Ruby and I have achieved lots of things which included Ruby’s first canter. I’m in no rush though and this summer we will spend schooling from the ground. Riding her was like a dream come true. This was in my halter I had her full attention and one happy pony.

I believe that the main factor of Ruby’s progress is the fact that’s she has lived all her life minus 4 month in a very well established herd and has not had the confinement of stables and individual paddocks. If it was not for that I truly think she would still be the same frightened pony as she was 2 years ago. I also thank IH and NH techniques. They have given her the confidence and the ability to try new things and have fun but also learn loads and loads of things. Without these two things and of course Jen and my Auntie Heather, she would most probably be dog meat. But she isn’t, she is here with me and thats for life. I’m truley proud of Ruby Tuesday, (named so cos Jen is a Stones fan) and because she is a beautiful ruby colur.
I find the fact that children these days ride their unschooled school ponies in great big bits and whips and constantly nag and nag with their legs very annoying. I have cantered Ruby at 4 in a halter head collar in open fields with absolutely full control and I really do not understand why people think that they will be safer in bits. What is most depressing is that children are encouraged to do this and have traditional techniques into their heads. I’d like to see an ihkids pony club. I would definitely join. Ruby and I are happy treeless and bitless and proud of it.
 
Harry and Jasmin
this is my pony jasmin she is a shetlind pony i have only just got her she is a really good pony you can see she has long hair we had to put medicine on her hair so she doesen't get nits (little things that suck blood) she is about 18 years old and she likes me the most i think because she come up to me as soon as i go to the field.

signed harry age 8

 

Morgan's Story

Starting a pony

I am a four year old 11.2hh Section A Welsh mountain pony gelding named Morgan and I was started last Easter using IH methods. As I have a lovely family who wished to learn what I was learning we had lessons together at the end of each week. The first few lessons were based on ground work and were important to teach me to listen, pay attention and to understand what I was expected to do.

Next came becoming accustomed to a saddle and long lines before lots of work in the round pen, outdoor school and roads and tracks on long lines to prepare me for being ridden. I was now much fitter, my muscles were stronger and used to the weight and feel of my saddle.Working on long lines also helped me understand how to move when asked, how fast and in which direction.
After six weeks I was ready for my first rider, unusually this was a young person but then I am small even for a light adult and the yard that started me knew me very well and start horses professionally using only IH methods. Please do not try this at home as it is not easy and I was well trained as were my handlers.
As you can see all went well and after a few more weeks of training with my owner I went to my new home.
I have learned so much over the summer, I went showing and to pony club camp and I have been clipped! I behaved perfectly, and now I am busy preparing for this seasons mountain and moorland showing classes.