27th January, 2017 Me Mollie, She Jane

I am Mollie, I have a very long posh name but no one uses that. I am a beautiful ( so they tell me ) black Shetland filly. I was born and live at The Hermitage on The Isle of Wight.

I arrived in my Mum's tummy. Nobody knew I was there, my mum and I had a secret for almost a year. When 'my human' bought my Mum nobody knew about her little escaping episode some months previous. Though when all was revealed we do know that my Dad is a super pony so my Mum chose well.

I was born on the lawn on 28th February 2013, my Mum did a grand job of looking after me and I was up on my feet in no time so that I could copy her and walk beside her. Then they took us to our stable which was lovely and cosy and warm.

I had many admirers from the hotel and loved the attention but there was one person who always came to look after us, she is my human Mum. When I was a few weeks old  she noticed that I wasn't very well. I had lots and lots of visits from our lovely vet but they did do so many tests which I wasn't very keen about. They just couldn't get ny tummy right, I baffled them because in each day I would be a lively little foal full of fun and then a very poorly foal with tummy ache. My human Mum gave me endless medicines, sometimes 8 times a day but one night she talked to the vet and it was decided that I had to go to the horsey hospital.

My human Mum's husband drove me and my two Mums very carefully to the hospital and they looked after me for two weeks, I was diagnosed to be lactose intolerant so that was the end of the lovely milk that my Mum gave me.

During my first 6 months I had had a lot of attention and thought that everyone should be my entertainment committee.  And I had so many things 'done' to me in order to make me better that I did feel the need to be ready to look after myself.  

I started to rear when being led,  rushed off in another direction, or just refused to move and I didn't like anyone picking up my feet. I positively disliked any type of injection. I was only little but I was very strong and very quick.

Luckily my human Mum had found this wonderful lady who was willing to come and visit us and help us. This lady has helped us with so many parts of my education, she is very kind and has taught my human Mum so much about the  way to understand ponies and why they do the things we do. We had lessons on ground work, leading with a smile in the rope, touch and move away to introduce any new objects. It has been made fun because I have learnt to do loads of agility things.

Then there was the day they taught me 'Clicker', well it is so easy to learn, one click means I am doing well and three clicks mean I have done very well and always means I get a treat. I never get  a treat without this clicking noise but that's OK.

Once they taught me clicker I was able to accept the feet thing. I pick my feet up nicely now and have them picked out each day, I still get a click for each foot and a treble click and treat at the end so I am happy. On the days my vet trims my feet I do still get a lot of clicks and treats but I was foot perfect last time for all four feet.

I am nearly 4 yrs old now. I have matured and grown a lot, I am very loving with a little mischievious sparkle in my eye. I have a strong character and am always willing to do new things and  I love jumping. I am best when I am busy and having to concentrate otherwise I am inclined to think up my own ideas. I know that I still have many things to learn, long reining is the lastest idea.

 My Mum is called Carmaco Mairi, she is the kindest Mum you could ever want and teaches me things all the time. My Dad is Annwood Valdor but I have only seen pictures of him, he looks handsome.

My human Mum's Husband is called David and I fully recommend him as a chauffeur of pony transport. My Human Mum is Jane who loves me so very much and I think we work together well now.

My lovely IOW vets are Kate and Tim who look after me brilliantly. The horsey hospital is Liphook Equine Hospital, they take amazing care of you.

Above all the wonderful lady that helped us so much is Sarah Weston. Without Sarah I think I would have been a bit of a nightmare. The journey that we have been on has been made possible with Sarah's help and advice,  Sarah is a great teacher and her book No Fear No Force is  a definite read for anyone working with equines.