This morning, bright and early, Bjørn, Daisy and I went in the van to another island, Yell.
We had booked onto the 10:45 ferry.
So we went to collect these two ponies on Yell on behalf of the SSPCA.
We brought home two ponies.
The first – Gina – is 31 (this year) years old. Ok, she is thin (two dimensional) but she is doing ok for her age,
The second is Gypsy – who is, I think (to be confirmed) is 13 years old.
When we got them home, we wormed, brushed manes and tails, cut tails and gave them some hard feed.
We also gave Gina the use of Waffle’s best rug. Gina is a very old lady. (Waffle is not needing it at the moment as he is aiming to be 17hh wide!)
It fits perfectly.
Gypsy is fatty, fat fat! Methinks she ate all the pies.
And so we put them outside…..
Everyone is interested – meeting the big boys on the other side of the fence.
Everything is new.
Delia is the boss here so Gypsy had to make friends with her.
Even Newt has made his introductions.
(this, Newt, does not make friends – just sayin’)
So they are all together.
My main priority is to put some weight on Gina. She is thin – but she is old – a tough call.
Gypsy needs to integrate and learn there are more Shetland ponies out there to be friends with because GIna is not going to be around forever.
Delia is calling the shots here and there was a massive bum-to-bum fight between the dominant mares.
Folk like Newt, Tor and Albie are not interested in the politics, just the extra food!
Frances – you have a heart as big as a lion! It’s always so sad when oldies have to be rehomed but I’m sure Gina is in the best place for her very old age. I’m sure Newt’s grown!
Newt only grows sideways! He is rotund and wuffly. He still rules Albie, who stupidly believes him!
Bless you for taking them on, especially Gina. Having recently lost my 31 year old horse (we were together for 28 years), I’ve taken on Flika, a 22 year old pony as a companion to my 17 year old pony Tinks. She was rescued from terrible neglect by a friend of a friend. Although she’s had some remedial farriery, her front feet are still pretty awful! It’s lovely to see how well she’s settled in and the two of them have become bestest pals in such a short time.
Well done Francis ,a good job done today. I hope the nubies settle in well and Gina has some happy days with you Love the blog particularly the whale and your window on Shetland.
Those ponies have now landed in pony heaven-on-earth. The herd dynamics (esp. among the ladies) always interests me, not having previously known about dominance till I started reading your blog. Blessings to you, Daisy, and Bjørn!
I agree: you are my horse/pony/sheep/dog/cat hero (and anything else you’ve rescued that I’ve forgotten)! And especially taking on the older ones; they can be rough on the heartstrings…
All in all though, it looks like your herd welcomed the newbies pretty darn well. Of course Delia is going to make her position known, but a few bum-butts sounds appropriate to me. And Gypsy looks just beautiful in those photos you took of her. Her name seems so appropriate for her.
Just wanted to say hello. I’ve been lurking for awhile, and am so loving this blog. I’m in the States, and fifty years ago learned to ride on a Shetland pony named Stuart Little. Yes, he was that memorable that I can recall every inch of him today. He was a school pony and without fail at my once weekly lesson he’d dump me in the manure pile on the way to riding ring. I adored him. Your blog remind me why.
I love the name! Thank you for commenting and welcome to my family. If you get in a muddle, check out the Cast List – it will tell you who is who or why is why!