UPDATE 1 - STOP PRESS

All five ponies belonging to the local farmer have now been sold to good local homes.

Tigger has now fully settled in at his home in Ilsington where he is living with some other Dartmoor Hill ponies. He has really increased in confidence and is now very happy to be caught, led around, and be groomed etc.

Winnie and Poppy have been at their new home near Kingsbridge for three weeks now and are settling in very well. Their new owners are going to keep us updated on their progress, but we know they will be very happy there. Their field overlooks the Sea, and they are being built a new Stone field shelter.

Zip and Harry are going to their new home near Ashburton next week. They are being taken on by a family who are keen to learn more about this type of training, and will be getting lots of attention.

We will keep you updated of any more news we get on the ponies, and we hope to follow their progress over the next year or so.

Future Plans:

We are really keen on working towards a bigger event next year involving more people and more ponies. We would therefore like to hear from anyone who is interested in getting involved in the training days. If you are interested in volunteering, learning how to train ponies using these methods, or of you have ponies you would like us to work with, please contact Mrs Dru Butterfield on 01626 355314.

UPDATE 2

All the ponies are doing really well, almost every day since the training days I have been bringing them in and haltering them up and doing some work with them. They are getting much more confident as you'll see below:

Tigger

Tigger is doing really well, and I am happy to say he has found a home. He is being taken on by Kathryn who came to the training days, and I am absolutely delighted about that. He is still a bit mistrustful (although once he has his headcollar on he is great,) so Kathryn will be doing lots of work to build his confidence up. Compared to how he was when we all met him, he has changed so much. We'll keep you all posted on how he gets on!

Winnie

Winnie is also doing really well, and is generally happy to be caught up and worked with. Once he gets over his initial fear, he is like a lamb, and follows you around ! He is a very sweet pony, and we are hoping to find him a great home that will be able to give him the attention he needs!

Poppy

Poppy is doing really well, and I am pleased to say has completely got over her fear of people. She is now more like Harry, and will follow you about to see what's going on! I had to do quite a bit of work with her for a few more days, but she soon realised we weren't really frightening! She has been out for some walks, and is very good about having her headcollar on etc. We haven't found her a home yet but we're willing to wait a while to find her the kind of home she needs.

Harry

Harry is doing brilliantly and surprise surprise we think we have found him a home. They are coming to look at him after Christmas and we are hoping they are right for him. Harry is as always a bit like a dog, and literally follows you everywhere. Since the training days he has been out for loads of walks, met dogs, met children and even a baby, and nothing has fazed him !!

Zip

Zip is doing really well, and although he is still quite cheeky he is getting more and more confident and doesn't wind the others up as much as he used to ! He is really inquisitive, and chases the farm dog about quite a bit, but he's generally a very fun little chap ! We haven't found him a home yet, but we are waiting for the right people to come along. We hope he gets the kind yet exciting home he deserves !