This morning's pony took me back a few years now to when I first met and worked with Piper. Although this picture looks quite promising, this Exmoor pony is absolutely terrified of being touched. Moor bred, he has been tied up to something solid be hot branded three times, inspected and possibly micro-chipped and DNA tested as a foal. He then lived out on the Moor until he was three years old and was later gelded - something usually achieved by driving the pony into a cattle crush and heavily sedating them with drugs such as Ketamine. All in all not a good experience of humans at all and one that seems to have scarred him for life in more ways than one. It's a long road ahead.
Piglet reminded us of just how far he has come since his arrival. The repetition in these pictures is a useful representation of just how much repetition is needed in order to lay the basic foundations. Time, patience and technique. The lovely thing is that he chooses to be with us now and appreciates a lovely rub as a reward.
