Dartmoor Pony Training Centre Summer Newsletter

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Welcome to the (belated) Summer 2010 newsletter keeping you up to date with the goings on at the Dartmoor Pony Training Centre.

Open Day & Workshop
Plans for our 5 day workshop with Sarah Weston of Intelligent Horsemanship have been going really well, the course is now full for Participants and we are filling up with spectators for the course. The workshop will be 25-29 October 2010 in Widecombe, Devon. The aim of the course is to teach participants to: build trust with the pony, first approach/body language, accepting a head collar/how to lead, pick up a pony's  feet, finish with a calm, confident, loving pony. Great care is taken to ensure the foals are trained without fear or force. The emphasis is on a trusting partnership.

If you or anyone you know is interested in attending, there are limited daily spectator spaces at a cost of £20 a day; please contact us by email / phone (details below.)
 
Our open day will follow the 5 day workshop on Saturday 30th October; this will be a chance for sponsors to meet their sponsor ponies as well as find out more about what we’ve been doing over the five days. Everyone is of course invited to this free of charge. If you want more information about this, or directions, please call or email or check out our blog: dptc.blogspot.com/ closer to the time where we’ll put full details.

Merry
As we mentioned in our last newsletter we decided it would be best for Merry if we retired him from the sponsorship scheme and found him a home where he’d get more one to one attention. He’s not totally comfortable going to big events and meeting lots of people so we think this is the best choice for him. We haven’t as yet found him a new home so if you or anyone you know is interested please get in touch. Merry is a happy, confident 5 year old pony. He is around 12.1hh and could take a lightweight adult or child rider. He is unbroken and not used to being ridden but I think would be very keen to start doing more challenging things as he’s pretty inquisitive!

Trixie
Trixie is as happy as ever, she’s been away at our fields down the road for some summer grazing and has just come back home. She loaded first out of all the ponies coming back, just marched on and stood there whilst the others took their time getting in! We’re hoping to do a little more with her in the upcoming year, as always we’re a little constricted by time but she’d like to do a little more work we think!

Leo is our new sponsor pony; on loan to Ro! He’ll be attending our open day on Saturday the 30th of October in Widecombe if you’d like to come and meet him!


Current ponies in need of re-homing
At the moment we have quite a few ponies looking for new homes. We are quite high on numbers and are hoping to find some more loan homes before the end of the summer. The weather has been a bit of a nightmare this summer for growing grass so we’re going to be limited on hay supplies for the winter and we’re hoping not to have to buy to much in as it’s very costly. Please keep your ears out for potential new homes for the following fabulous ponies:
Storm is coming back from his loan home as his loaner isn’t able to restrict his grazing as much as is needed. He had an attack of laminitis last year so needs restricted grazing and a home that will bring him into work. He’s approximately 8 years old and was backed last autumn. He hasn’t had lots done since then but shouldn’t take masses of work to get going again. He’s a very handsome bay chap and has a lovely character.
Merry, our old sponsor pony, is a happy, happy fellow and lots of fun. Although he’s being retired from our sponsor scheme because it was too stressful for him, he would probably be great with lots of one to one attention. He just wasn’t too sure about standing in a small pen at Trago Mills for the day surrounded by clows, brass bands and steam engines; I have to say I don’t blame him! He is now 5 years old and at an ideal age to start being ridden.
Rona – now two years old is a really sweet character. She has quite bad allergies to flies and comes up in bumps. This would need quite careful management, but if someone’s willing to put in a bit of time and effort she’ll make a fab little riding or companion pony.
Milo – 3 this year and also full of fun and character would make a lovely pony for someone. He would love lots of one to one attention and fuss and is a really sweet pony.

Ponies that need homes with experience in handling, come along to watch our training course if you’re interested in any of these ponies!

George – Amy’s foal who is now a two years old. George was castrated in the spring and is doing well with his training. He is very handsome and full of presence but needs more training to settle him down a bit. He will lead around and be touched all over but needs more work on his feet and general relaxing!
Mikey: now 3 years old and full of fun. We have had problems handling Mikey’s feet so Ro has devised a step by step training plan for him which we started a few weeks ago. This involves a glove on a stick, positive reinforcement and two of us spending quite a bit of time with him! We’re getting there with him! Mikey is a really loveable character but does need a home with experience.
Gorse is approximately 11.2hh and 5 years old, she is nervy of people but when she trusts you very rewarding. Ideally she would suit a home with experienced loaners doing something like conservation grazing.
Tia came to us in May from another rescue organisation who weren’t equipped to deal with her needs. She’s very nervous of people and we’re currently putting very little pressure on her and waiting until she’s ready to trust us. We’re getting there and Jenny was within a few feet of her the other day (That’s quite a development!)
Four yearling colts and one two year old gelding from last years markets. These ponies are just starting their proper education with people and will make great projects for anyone interested!

Thanks to all our loaners for giving the ponies such great homes!

Training sessions with Ro and Jenny
Since the weather has been a bit better we’ve been doing lots more training. In the winter, getting them all fed and watered after work and before it’s totally dark is more of a priority but it’s great to do more of this as all the ponies need loads of work before they can go out to new homes. Ro, Jenny and I have been doing training with the young boys especially. Jenny has lots of riding experience but


was keen to learn more about unhandled or nervous ponies and has come to help us with the work. Mikey and George have had quite a bit of work especially; look at our blog dptc.blogspot.com/ where we’ll put some pictures and info on how we work with the ponies.

Future of the DPTC
We’ve taken the decision to not take on any new ponies for a little while until we know how much time we have and whether we can manage the workload we already have. We all have other jobs and fitting in pony care & training, lots of admin work and trying to raise enough money to keep running alongside our jobs is pretty hard work! We also get quite a few ponies back from loan homes because the loaner’s situations change so we’re worried about being left with hundreds of ponies and not being able to look after them all. We’ll continue with our training work; running our yearly training event and open day and looking after the ponies we currently own but we won’t take on any new ponies this year for certain.

All the best, thanks for all your support and see you at the open day hopefully!

Natalie

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT, PLEASE REMEMBER TO KEEP CHECKING OUR BLOGS FOR REGULAR UPDATES AND PHOTOS OF THE PONIES. dptc.blogspot.com/ dptcrehoming.blogspot.com/

[jackiedo]

DArties are the best in the world!!!!

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Winter 2009 Newsletter

Welcome to the Winter 2009 newsletter keeping you up to date with the goings on at the Dartmoor Pony Training Centre. We have managed to re-home a few more ponies but also take a few more on (slightly more than intended......)

The Markets

Tavistock October 2009
We attended Tavistock Market with the intention of bringing home 2 ponies, we had decided before the markets this year that we could really only take on 2 ponies as we had had a few come back to us and we were quite full going in to winter. There were many unsold at the end of the day and even the coloureds were going for relatively low prices compared to previous years. This year all the foals also had to be microchipped before leaving the market and there was concern about how this could be done. Luckily an excellent system was set in place making it as stress free as possible, the ponies were herded in to a crush where a vet microchipped them before they were let back in to a pen. Although no doubt traumatic it really was done as quickly and efficiently as it could have been and I doubt many ponies suffered any more than they already were from the whole market experience.

At the end of the day we approached a farmer and brought two of his unsold ponies.

It was very sad at the end of the day with farmers openly saying the ponies really did not have a future if they were not sold, it just shows how important it is that we try and do our best for the ones we can help and promoting the breed. A local farmer is currently reducing his herd and putting geldings on the moor, this will obviously mean he won’t be breeding quite so many foals and we hope other farmers may follow if it works.

Chagford October 2009
Chagford market was much the same as Tavistock with many unsold. We were not planning to take any ponies on but were approached by a girl who had brought a pony, we agreed she could come to our workshop for free to work with her pony which was that weekend and that we would transport the foal to the venue, of course this meant the foal being by itself so we had to buy her a companion..... and so it was we ended up with Tango, who I believe may stay with us for some time as Ro has fallen for him!

Foals from a local farmer
We needed some foals to work with for our open day and a local farmer had some which he had not been able to take to market, problem was he didn’t know what to do with them. We decided to take them to our workshop to work with in the hope of maybe also finding them homes along the way. We did manage to re-home 2 of them to a woman who loans one of our ponies, unfortunately that still left 5, with nowhere for them to go it was inevitable we would end up keeping them!

Open Day & Workshop
This year we ran a 3 day workshop with Sarah Weston which went very well, the last day was our open day. Hopefully people on the course learnt from the experience and Sarah Weston and her team were fantastic! You can read more about it on Sarah’s blog www.sarahweston.co.uk/ if you look at the October dates you will find the entries relating to the workshop and photos!



Next year we are planning a 5 day workshop followed by our open day, it should run in the week of 23rd October so if any one has an interest it’s never too early to let us know!

Merry
Merry is settled back in to the herd and looking really well. We haven’t done too much with him over the last few months but even so he will always be caught and do what is asked of him. He was happy to great his fans during the open day in October, though he and Trixie did have to be separated as he wouldn’t leave the poor girl alone!

Trixie
Trixie has been on restricted grazing and has finally lost some weight! Hopefully she will drop more over winter and be in perfect form for the spring grass! We have to constantly be aware of the risk of laminitis in ponies and cannot risk them getting too fat, quite a few of them are now on restricted grazing and will certainly not be getting ad lib haylage this year. Trixie isn’t all that pleased about her diet but it’s for her own good, if only we could tell her that!!

Alfie
Alfie has been successfully re-homed to a farm near Chudleigh where he is keeping a riding horse company. He settled in well and has been behaving. Keep an eye on our blog for updates on how he is getting on there!

Storm
Storm has now been backed and so has had his first rider on his back, he took to it easily and is progressing very well with his education. He is still being managed very strictly due to his laminitis.

Snoopy & Buzz
We visited Snoopy & Buzz at the riding school they are homed at and both are looking really well. They are all grown up now and it was wonderful to see them. Both live out 24/7 and are handled as and when needed, they will continue to live out in the youngsters herd until they are old enough to be backed. The riding school is a great home for these two as they are well suited to that environment being very boisterous and loving lots of attention from the kids!

Bertie & Clyde
Bertie & Clyde came back to us but were quickly re-homed to a lovely couple in Holsworthy. They are living there together in about 3 acres and enjoying themselves. We needn’t have worried about them settling in, they had their heads down eating straight away! Clyde’s weight will be watched and he will be stabled part of the day to restrict is intake, another one on the Weightwatchers list!

Mikey & Steer
Mikey & Steer are doing well. Mikey has settled in finally, he did go through a phase of jumping from field to field so we never quite knew where we would find him! He is a very clever pony and needs a very special understanding home with someone he can really bond with and trust.

Steer has stolen all our hearts again, he is such a soft soppy pony who loves attention and is naturally trusting of people. We also need to find him a wonderful home where he can get all the attention he wants

Current ponies in need of re-homing
At the moment we have a few ponies looking for homes, most are ones that have been returned to us recently. They are:

· Mikey & Steer – now 3 years old and full of fun
· Rona – now a yearling she has a mischievous but loving character, the loaner will need to be confident but calm and also be aware she is not keen on dogs, though we are trying to desensitise her to them
· George – Amy’s foal who is now a yearling, he is currently with a bachelor herd awaiting castration
· 7 foals taken on from market this year, handling just starting

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT, PLEASE REMEMBER TO KEEP CHECKING OUR BLOGS FOR REGULAR UPDATES AND PHOTOS OF THE PONIES. dptc.blogspot.com/ dptcrehoming.blogspot.com/

SPONSORS
Thank you to Cartridges Solicitors for sponsoring the printing of the newsletter. Cartridges are specialists in Personal Injury work and much more - to find out more about the services they offer log on to www.cartridgeslaw.co.uk

[dptc]

Summer 2009 Newsletter

Welcome to the Summer 2009 newsletter keeping you up to date with the goings on at the Dartmoor Pony Training Centre. All has been well, we have been to a couple of shows, re-homed more ponies, had more ponies come back and we have been out to visit ponies in their loan homes!

Moretonhampstead Show
On Sunday 10th May we took Trixie & Leo to Moretonhampstead show. This was their first proper show, though Trixie has of course been out and about to shows and stood in the pen for her adoring fans! Leo had never seen anything like it before.

They were both very good, Leo was a little edgy at first when Ro unloaded him, he was having a good look around with all the horse box and trailers moving around and numerous horses rushing past and tied up. He soon settled though.

I was supposed to be taking my pony Tigger but he was ill and as I had already entered the classes I decided I may as well take Trixie in them rather than waste an entry fee! We did two classes the first was Mountain & Moorland in hand and my foot wished we hadn’t bothered! In the ring Trixie got quite anxious being away from Leo and it took her some time to stop calling to him. In the meantime I could see Leo beside the ring not too happy about the situation either, Natalie & Ro kept walking him around though and he calmed down and started grazing, unfortunately the same could not be said for Trixie bless her.

We started in the ring walking around, I was second in line but she kept stopping so we were overtaken!. We then had to wait in single file whilst each pony and handler took it in turns to trot around the ring to the back of the queue. Trixie was getting impatient and stamping at this point. It came around to our turn to trot and she proceeded to leap in the air a few times which is very unusual for her but we got to the back of the line with no further tantrums. We all then had to carry on walking at which point Trixie decided she needed a wee! I had to laugh!

The judge then called us to line up and picked the order. Phew I thought that’s it I can get out of here – I was wrong! Each handler then had to walk out of the line and trot around again, this meant standing with a very grumpy Trixie who kept stamping, nibbling, barging in to me and trying to graze and walking around, I have a few bruises on my foot now from the time we were waiting. She did however trot around the ring ok this time.

I am very pleased to say we did not come last, we came one from last and I did hear the person below me say to someone “well I give up on trying to work out what a judge looks for....” :-)

The class was finally over and Trixie and Leo were reunited, they were happy to be together and grazed until the handy pony class they were both entered in. Both were very well behaved for this class – my aim had been to let Trixie eat as much grass as she could so she would then sleep whilst lined up, it worked too well.... She walked over the pole and around the feed buckets (only glancing to check there was no food in them) we then had to trot but madam was not so keen, she wanted to sleep! We got a few strides before reaching the carpet which she walked on without even looking at it, she picked up her foot as requested and backed up so overall not too bad!


Then it was Leo’s turn and for a 2 year old he was amazing, he didn’t look at the pole and led between the buckets perfectly. Unfortunately he hasn’t yet got the hang of trotting in hand but he did a wonderful striding walk before taking a quick look at the carpet and walking on to it. He was happy for Ro to pick up his foot and back up and he was praised by many people watching him for being so good at such a young age.

During the day we met Anne and Lulu – you may have seen their updates on entries on our blog, Lulu is the coloured Dartmoor Hill Pony. Earlier on she had had won her class and come second in the championship which is a fantastic promotion for the Dartmoor Hill Pony - she also came third in her coloured class later on in the day. She had travelled all the way from Wiltshire to try and qualify for Devon County Show via the handy pony class. Lulu was perfect up until the carpet, she really wasn’t sure what to make of it! They have been practicing lots since and are ready to go to the qualifiers in Widecombe.

Trixie came sixth in the end which was good, she even got a rosette

Trixie


Dunsford Show
We went to Dunsford show again this year, our fourth year being there. Unfortunately we could not take any of the ponies as we had no one to drive our trailer, this was a shame as they are normally a very good draw to our stand and people love to meet them. It was still a nice day and as usual the show was full of fun and had a great atmosphere. We look forward to next years when we hope the ponies can come again.

Open Day & Workshop
Attached to the newsletter are full details of a workshop we are running on 9th, 10th and 11th October 2009. Sunday 11th October will be our open day so we hope to see you all there, please do contact us if you would like further details.

Name the Mare & Foal
You may remember we had a competition to name the mare and her foal born at the centre this year, we have finally chosen the names and they will now be known as Grace (mare) and May (foal). Well done to S Davies who has won a sponsorship and a poster of a photo taken by Bob Langrishe of a Dartmoor mare. Thank you to everyone for your name suggestions and thank you to Bog Langrishe for kindly donating the prize, don’t forget to look at his website www.boblangrish.com/.


May


Grace & May



Rona
Rona unfortunately came back to us after a month in her new home, it was discovered she had an issue with chasing dogs which was a bit of a worry for the loaner. She is doing really well back with us and has been having lots of leading practice and she even behaved for the farrier! She is suffering mild sweet itch at the moment and so we have had to get a small fly rug for her.

Rona


Tinker
Tinker was castrated at the hospital and all went really well, he went straight to his new home (where Rona had been) and has settled in nicely. He is very happy there with Ebony and his loaner loves him!

Woody, Amy, Mare & foal
These four have gone to a new home, they have gone to conservation grazing in Gloucestershire where you may remember a few of our other ponies are including Pippin, Harry and Jet. It was sad seeing Grace and May leave as now we won’t get to watch May grow up but at least they have a lovely home!

Maia
Maia has been re-homed too. She is getting on really well and her loaners love her, they have been taking her out for walks and she has been getting all the attention she could ever want.

Storm
Storm is doing well in his home with Smokey near Tavistock. He suffered a mild bout of laminitis at the beginning of the year but this is under control and he is off to a yard near Coombeinteignhead to be backed very shortly, we will keep you updated with his progress.

Smartie
We went to see how Smartie was getting on in his loan home with Olivia. She has done a fantastic job with him and he is obviously very happy. He wears a bridle and saddle now and Olivia takes him out for walks in hand and also leads him from her other pony Sovereign.

Star & Socks
We visited Star & Socks not long ago and they seem contended where they are. They were very friendly and it was lovely to see them.

Archie & Ronnie
We also visited Archie & Ronnie who were also doing really well at Easterbrook. They loved a fuss from us and again it was nice to see them happy and settled in their home.

Bertie & Clyde
We visited Bertie and Clyde and although they are happy in their home they will be coming back to us shortly. They will make great ponies for someone being well handled, and now ready for backing. Hopefully we can find them new homes quickly. I wonder if Clyde will know Rona is his daughter......!

Bonnie
Bonnie is doing really well with Lynn, she had a few issues with picking her feet up initially (it was an issue she’d previously had which we had worked on but think she decided it would be fun to test her new loaners out too when she moved)!! Luckily Lynn has worked on this and she will now pick all her feet up no problems even without a headcollar on!

Her education continues – she is taken out for walks and has a bridle with a happy mouth bit but is led from the headcollar still for the time being. She has also had a little cub saddle on her but not a girth, she did not bat any eyelid at this and we will keep you updated on her progress.

Leo – Written by Ro who loans him
Leo is continuing to develop as a happy and confident youngster. He enjoyed his outing to Trago Mills early in the summer and took the brass band, steam engines and clown on stilts in his stride! In fact, he was much more worried when we went to our first show and took quite a while to calm down. But eventually, with Trixie leading by example, he settled down to have a nice graze. Even though he’s only 2 years old he’s already starting to fill out and next year I know I’ll have to restrict his grazing to stop him getting fat. He’s had his feet trimmed a couple of times now and was very good – other than chasing the farrier’s dog beforehand. So that’s my next project – to try to desensitise him to dogs. I’m also continuing to work on his leading (especially getting him to trot in hand) and I’d like to try to introduce him to long lines this summer.

Merry
Merry is back in our herd having been with the bachelor herd throughout the winter and spring. It was as if he was never gone, he has settled back in really well. He had his feet trimmed and we were worried he may have forgotten what it was all about having been away and unhandled for so long but he was a pro and was perfect for the farrier!

Trixie
You will have read about Trixie’s recent escapades above! She is not too happy with us at the moment, her belly was getting the better of her so she is now on restricted grazing and she thinks she is starving! She gets fed each day to ensure she gets her vitamins and minerals and she gets a bit of hay with the others (she is in there with 3 other ponies) but she does like to stamp her feet to show how disgruntled she is about it all!

Mikey & Steer
Mikey & Steer are back with us causing havoc! Having only recently been castrated they are still full of testosterone and it took a while for them to settle in to the herd, Mikey in particular seemed to want to be in charge and was rearing at Beau the 16.3 Irish TB – though he did eventually give up, every now and then he still likes a pop!

Rona joined in with Mikey & Steer initially and they were a real troublesome threesome, we went up one day to find our barn completely trashed and have no doubt it was them! Luckily they have now settled and Steer and Rona are very close whilst Mikey has latched on to Natalie’s pony Rosie.

Mikey & Steer



Current ponies in need of re-homing
At the moment we have a few ponies looking for homes, most are ones that have been returned to us recently. They are:

· Mikey & Steer – now 3 years old and full of fun
· Clyde & Bertie – both very sweet natured calm ponies, Bertie is now 4 and Clyde is approximately 5, both are ready for backing. They have been well handled, stabled and taken out for walks
· Rona – now a yearling she has a mischievous but loving character, the loaner will need to be confident but calm and also be aware she is not keen on dogs, though we are trying to desensitise her to them
· Alfie – a very sweet pony about 4 years old and ready for backing, would be a great pony for a small adult. He needs a confident handler as he will “try it on” but if he knows you are the boss will be the sweetest pony you’ve ever met!
· George – Amy’s foal who is now a yearling, he is currently with a bachelor herd awaiting castration

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT, PLEASE REMEMBER TO KEEP CHECKING OUR BLOGS FOR REGULAR UPDATES AND PHOTOS OF THE PONIES. dptc.blogspot.com/ dptcrehoming.blogspot.com/

[Deleted]

love the newsletters, drawn to this thread now I have inherited a gorgeous little dartmoor hill pony. Lovely to read about yours, they're fab aren't they. Rosie pony took to her first saddle and bridle without even noticing them really, just got to love these ponies.

[dptc]

Spring 2010 Newsletter
Welcome to the Spring 2010 newsletter keeping you up to date with the goings on at the Dartmoor Pony Training Centre.

Open Day & “Award Winning” Workshop
Following the success of previous years workshops we have decided to go the whole hog this year and do a full 5 day course with Sarah Weston of Intelligent Horsemanship.

The workshop will be 25-29 October 2010 in Widecombe, Devon and will cost £250, there is also limited daily spectator spots at a cost of £20 a day.

Participants will learn to:

· build trust with the pony
· first approach/body language
· accepting a head collar/how to lead
· pick up a pony's feet
· finish with a calm, confident, loving pony

Great care is taken to ensure the foals are trained without fear or force. The emphasis is on a trusting partnership.

So if you are interested or know of any one who may be please pass the details on. We are trying to get as much publicity for this as possible so if you feel you can help in any way get in touch, you may be able to put posters up in your local tack shop, riding school, livery yard etc.

Our open day will follow the 5 day workshop on Saturday 30th October, everyone is of course invited to this free of charge.


House of Lords
You may notice in the above that we called our workshop “award winning”! This is because in early March we were invited to an awards ceremony at the House of Lords by Wetnose Animal Aid who were giving us an award for The Best Training Workshop. It was a very exciting day and we thoroughly enjoyed it. John Altman otherwise known as “Nasty Nick” from Eastenders presented the award to us and gave a brief speech on why it is so important that people are educated before taking on something like a wild pony. Nick Knowles, Lorraine Chase and Jenny Seagrove also showed their appreciation for the work we do at the Centre and it is hoped through the event we can find a patron.



Wetnose Animal Aid
Wetnose Animal Aid kindly donated us £1000 when we first set up which was a huge help to get things moving, it meant we could buy a much needed field shelter for the foals!
Their aims are to raise money and awareness for the sick and needy animals in Animal Rescue Centres and good causes worldwide and the UK.

From their website: In our experience, we know only too well how these Centres are really struggling, due to lack of funds and volunteers. Many still having to cope with the costs of never ending vet's bills, and medical supplies; and that's without special diets, fuel, repairs, insurances and all the other costs. Wetnose will vet some of these Rescue Centres and providing the correct criteria is met, we will help pay off these vets bills, or buy equipment such as incubators or cat traps and additionally offering help and advice when it's needed.

We will do all we can to help these Rescue Centres to keep on going, but we need your help and support too. We need fund raisers to do marathons, bike rides, boot sales, anything to help raise more money and awareness.

Merry
Merry is very well and enjoying life at the moment. We have made a decision about his future though and decided it would be best for Merry if we could re-home him and therefore retire him from our sponsorship scheme. Merry hasn’t been out with us for a while other than our open days as he gets himself very wound up during a long day, this results in him chasing poor Trixie and getting quite nibbly with peoples fingers! Unfortunately he doesn’t have the same calm, chilled out personality as Trixie to cope with it and it would be unfair to take him to events for the day. So if you know of any one who is looking to loan a very adorable pony do let us know!! We will of course keep you updated on how he gets on in any new home we find him. Leo will be the sponsor pony in place of Merry and for further information on him see below.


Trixie
Trixie is as happy as ever, nothing seems to phase her and she always seems so contented. My friends daughter Shoana has paid her a couple of visits and given her lots of fuss and cuddles which Trixie loves, there is a photo of Shoana with Trixie, you will see it was a very wet day and so there wasn’t much grooming that could be done but both Shoana and Trixie seemed to enjoy themselves! Hopefully Trixie will be making an appearance at Moretonhampstead Show on 9th May 2010.


Buzz
Buzz has come back to us as he kept escaping from the fields in his home! He is a very adorable confident pony so hopefully it won’t take us too long to re-home him again.


Gorse, Bramble & MiloThese three ponies were returned to us just after Christmas as the loaners could no longer keep them. They have settled back in to the herd well and Bramble is very protective of his mum Gorse! We are looking for new homes for the three of them.

Leo – Written by Ro
Leo and I are both looking forward to some spring sunshine! He’s suffered a bit with rain scald this winter so I used a special shampoo and oil which have helped a lot – but some dry, warm weather will make all the difference. Kathryn and I have been doing some work together with her pony Tigger and Leo. Leo likes to have a companion with him and is really calm and confident when he’s out and about with Trixie or Tigger. We took the two boys into one of our other fields and spread out a tarpaulin for them to walk over. It was a breezy day and we couldn’t get the tarpaulin to lie flat – but as you can see from the photo neither of them was bothered in the slightest. In fact Leo’s main interest was in the cone as I’ve used clicker training to teach him to touch cones with his nose and so as soon as he spotted the cone he was just keen to get to it and give it a nudge!

We’ve decided that Leo would make a good sponsor pony, to replace Merry, as he really enjoys his trips out into the wide world. He’s been with us a couple of times to Trago Mills when we thought it would be too much for Merry. As long as he’s got Trixie and some hay then he’s very happy with all the attention. So we’ll gradually be phasing out sponsorship of Merry and offering Leo instead.


Equine Touch
At the end of January I went on my first Equine Touch course. For those who haven’t come across this before, it’s a simple system of bodywork that helps to balance and relax the body. We practised the techniques on each other before being let loose on the horses and I can vouch for it being very relaxing! My course lasted 3 days and was very intensive! My most rewarding experience was working with a slightly nervous and fidgety (but very gentle) horse who became completely mellow and was almost asleep by the end! Since then I’ve done the basic body balance a few time on Leo. I’ve got to be honest and say that the pile of hay which I gave him to keep him occupied proved to be far more interesting that anything I was doing. Still he seemed to enjoy it and he’s an ideal pony to practice on!

The Foals from 2009 markets
The foals have settled in really well, they are growing in confidence each day. We have re-homed two of them and they should be off to their new home shortly. They will be out near Crediton living on a large piece of land with two other hill ponies and so I am sure they will be very happy!!




Current ponies in need of re-homing
At the moment we have a few ponies looking for homes:

· Mikey & Steer – now 3 years old and full of fun
· Rona – now a yearling she has a mischievous but loving character, the loaner will need to be confident but calm and also be aware she is not keen on dogs, though we are trying to desensitise her to them
· George – Amy’s foal who is now a yearling, he is currently with a bachelor herd awaiting castration
· Gorse – approximately 11.2hh and 5 years old, she is nervy of people but when she trusts you very rewarding.
· Bramble – Gorse’s foal now 2 years old, he is full of fun and character
· Milo – 3 this year and also full of fun and character would make a lovely pony for someone
· 5 foals taken on from market this year, handling just starting

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT, PLEASE REMEMBER TO KEEP CHECKING OUR BLOGS FOR REGULAR UPDATES AND PHOTOS OF THE PONIES. dptc.blogspot.com/ dptcrehoming.blogspot.com/

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