In the Saddle with Anita Marsh: My first little pony and all that Jazz

With the onset of summer, we’ve also had something else to celebrate. The arrival of my six year old daughter’s new pony, Jasmine, or Jazz as she calls her. Jasmine is a very pretty Welsh section B bay (that’s a horsey term for brown coloured) pony who is very sweet.

As many of you will know, April my mare has been an only child for five years and I was a little concerned how she would feel sharing her pasture with Jasmine. Introducing new horses and ponies together has to be done with extreme care to avoid injury. In a herd, a leader will always establish itself. Although Jasmine has been used to being in a little herd of ponies, we felt it best to keep both her and April in separate paddocks where they can still see each other and touch each other over the fence. As a general rule of thumb it is advisable to keep new horses separate from the rest of the herd initially until you are sure they are disease free. As you can imagine, my daughter is excited with her very first pony and although she knew she was getting her we did surprise her by organising it all when she was at school. Her face was a picture when we told her to check the paddock. Our new little pony has come from giving two lovely sisters lots of confidence and they have now sadly outgrown her. Her owner only wanted her to go to a five star home, so I’m delighted she has felt we are the perfect family for her. They are enjoying building up a partnership together with regular lessons and I’m learning all about Jazz and her little ways. They say horses are like chocolates, you can’t just have one. I think it’s true.