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Fundraising money – how has it been spent?

We support Pukka Ponies (where our foster ponies come from) because the charity cares for many more horses and ponies that need rehoming, rehabiliating or require long term medical care.

We organised five activity events as part of our fundraising portfolio. So how much did we raise for the charity? How has the money been spent?

In total, we raised £260 ( £220 from activity events, £20 from monetary donations and £20 from selling our horse manure compost).

This money paid for Dash and Sophie (two shetlands) to have their hooves trimmed. Farriers Chris Connell and Charlie Lawson did a sterling job.

  • Chris Connell and Sophie
  • Charlie Lawson and Dash

Soon after this picture was taken, Dash found his forever home. The clip below shows Dash frolicking around with his new best friend Kizzy.

Not to be out done by Dash’s good fortune, Sophie also found her forever home.

The majority of the money raised went towards having Sambuca ( a 3 year old mini cob) gelded (castrated). The vets at Bell Equine Veterinary Clinic successfully carried out the operation.

Sarah Daniells from Pukka Ponies informed us that Sambuca’s recovery went well. He was initally separated from the herd to keep him safe from injury but has since been introduced back to his field friends. Now that he is fully recovered the Pukka Ponies volunteers can continue their work, making him rideable and ready for rehoming.

Sambuca pictured in the middle

A BIG THANK YOU goes to Little Kickers coaches Richard and Olly for running the fundrasing activity events and to all the children who took part; as well as to those that made monetary donations and those who bought our horse manure compost. Sophie, Dash and Sambuca now have a bright and happy future because of you!

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Horses have the power to heal

Sunday 27th October 2019

A lovely lady called Pennie came to visit Little Warden. Today was a difficult day for Pennie, she lost her beloved Little Mo (Mo) a year ago. To mark the day in a positive way, Pennie decided to spend time with the ponies, Silver and Pumba.

Here’s an extract from her account of the day

“It was such a relaxing morning. I just don’t know where the time went. Standing in the field with the ponies gave me such a feeling of warmth and sense of peace that I knew that this had been the best thing I could have done with my day and that Mo would be watching me. I came away feeling very calm and I hope that my beautiful Mo could see how worthwhile a donation will be in her memory to this wonderful charity.”

Little did I know that Pennie’s visit would have a profound affect on me. I felt privileged to have spent the morning listening to Pennie talking about the amazing times she had with Mo. I’m overwhelmed that the ponies and I were able to make Pennies’ day a positive experience. The real credit of course goes to the Pukka Ponies, they were brilliant! Silver and Pumba surpassed themselves, they were cheeky, calm and loving. They snoozed while we laughed, chatted and while Pennie groomed them.

To make a difference in someones life if only for a few moments has been my dream since we set up Little Warden. Today the dream became a reality. I hope the ponies and I will be a part of many more precious moments.

If you want to read more about Pennie’s experience at Little Warden click here https://beautifulmo.simdif.com/anniversaries.html

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Reaching a milestone – the ponies and I

Since I’ve been fostering the rescue ponies, I’ve alway led them individually between paddocks because I work alone and I don’t know the background and temperment of the ponies. However, today I managed to lead Silver and Pumba together from their night paddock to their day paddock. I’m feeling estatic and elated right now.

Why is this such an achievement, you may ask? I’ve never done this before; it has been one of my goals which I’d sidelined for next year because deep down I lacked the confidence to give it a go. Also these are rescue ponies, both with very different issues. Silver can be skittish, highly strung and become anxious when faced with new challenges. Pumba on the other hand is semi feral so nearly all his experiences at Little Warden are new.

Since they arrived, I’ve tirelessly worked with them each day, if only for a few minutes. Teaching them separately to wait nicely, back up, follow and walk behind me when I’m leading them (this is a natural horsemanship approach). Today all that work paid off. Silver and Pumba were calm and followed my lead. However, I can’t take all the credit. Thank you to Lydia Pink for always answering my questions. Most importantly a big thank you goes to Rosanna Hollands, my fabulous mentor. She has coached me and in a long telephone conversation, Rosanna shared her knowledge, experience and expertise. We discussed possible strategies if things went wrong and she has given me the confidence to give it a go, this support is priceless. It’s truly amazing what you can do if you have self belief.

  • Lydia
  • Rosanna

Achieving this milestone, helps reaffirm my belief that I can do this, it reminds me of what has been achived over the last four years and strenghens the trust and bond between the ponies and I.

I leave you with this inspiring quote from Buzz Lightyear, “To infinity and beyond!” Toy Story, 1995.

Watch this space. Silver and Pumba’s antics and progress, coming soon!

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Farewell Peachy Baby

In October 2018, Peaches, the last of the original foster ponies from Pukka Ponies set off to her new home. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel sad. Watching the others going on to lead exciting lives somehow turned my feelings of loss into hope and happiness.

Peaches

I was lucky enough to meet Peaches’ adopted family. They were lovely, I liked them from the moment they greeted Peaches. I remember asking them if they wanted more time to walk around with Peaches. They didn’t, they just stood by Peaches, stroking her. I could see how calm Peaches was around them, there was a connection. I knew Peaches would be loved and feel safe in their care.

The week before she was due to leave we gave her the Little Warden send off. Extra cuddles, lots of grooming time and of course lots of treats (of the healthy kind) too!

Peaches’ story and many progress updates will be coming soon! She has certainly landed on her hooves. You won’t believe the transformation!

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The Enrichment Area

Enrichment is not just for horses, dogs can benefit from it too! This is why Dog Smart Training and Behaviour run some of their classes in a dedicated enrichment area at Little Warden.

The design and layout is the brain child of Oliver Ringrose. The enrichment area is a wonderful creative space that is evolving. Oliver changes the layout to meet the needs of his clients.

First step was removing the dead and diseased trees…

Sometimes dogs can struggle to adapt into our day to day lives, this can lead to fear, depression and aggression all behaviours regarded by us to be undesirable.

The enrichment area is the perfect place to create an environment that encourages a dogs’ natural behaviour, which in turn helps in keeping them happy, calm and balanced. The area is also a place where dogs and their owners can play, explore as well as just chillout.

It’s also a big hit with my boys, I can’t keep them away.

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Heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s off to work Oreo….

Last summer we said goodbye to Oreo. He went back to Pukka Ponies, giving ponies rides to help raise much needed funds for the charity.

Oreo’s time at Little Warden was tough. He worked soooo hard frollicking in the paddock, playing with his pals and always winning the 100 metre sprint for treats.

All this hard work took it’s toll on Oreo, recovery meant he needed a lot of time out snoozing.


Stay tuned, an update on Oreo will be coming soon! You’ll never guess what he’s up to now.

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We are going camping, we are going camping, woo, woo, woooooo!

This year (like all the previous years) it’s been non-stop at Little Warden and the kids go back to school in a couple of weeks. So we thought a short mini break (four nights), camping, was needed to recharge our batteries. You never guess where we went……

Down the field! Yes we packed up and drove down the lane to the field. It took us a staggering two minutes to reach our destination. No traffic jam, no delays, no road works, result!

Thankfully are kids are young, still impressed by what mummy and daddy do and are gullable enough to fall for “lets go on an exciting holiday down the field”. Their innocence and simplistic view of life is not only refreshing but a life saver.

Surprisingly, just being away from the house has been relaxing. I’m unable to work through my endless house jobs list. More importantly it’s given us a chance to just look and absorb the wonderful surroundings. The kids have spent many hours just running around in circles (I’ve never understood that, but if it knackers them out then that’s a win for me). They helped us pitch up the tent, tried their hand at frisbee throwing, cooking, and we’ve had our own little rave festival.

But there’s nothing better than star gazing, sitting by the campfire (albeit a small one) eating mashmallows. Bliss.

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Who’s going to look after the ponies when I’m away?

It’s January 2017, we decided a family holiday was overdue. The kids were out of nappies so I was feeling brave about taking them to India to meet my side of family. Once our flights were booked, the reality of leaving the ponies over winter hit home. Caring for the ponies would be particularly tough because our ponies lived out 24/7, the weather was worsening and the days were getting shorter.

Searching for the right people to look after the ponies was not my only headache. I also had to consider: Where to store the hay and how to get it into the field?  How to poo pick during muddier times?  And find ways to prevent the gateways from becoming impassable? More importantly, I had to come up with a plan that was easy and manageable. I needed reliable people who wouldn’t buckle under the pressure when things got tough.

I spent countless hours asking friends, calling friends of friends and searching the web without any success and panic set in. If I didn’t find anyone, I wouldn’t be able to go (this was not an option). Luckily a month before we set off,  I found 3 wonderful girls:  Hannah, Lauren and Becky. Woohoo!

  • Hannah Hawkins
  • Lauren Antwis
  • Rebecca James

Well what a team! The girls did a fantastic job. Yes, there were tricky moments like when my storage box and all the contents blew away during high winds; and Silver freaking out after seeing the light of a small torch and ending up on the other side of the paddock. They even carried on working when they themselves were sick. These girls are made of strong stuff, I really can’t thank then enough. Super stars! That’s what they are too me.

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I can get by with a little help from my friends

It’s only fitting to write my first post after our website launch about friendship.

This post is dedicated to everyone that has supported us from the very start, when fostering rescue ponies was just an idea. Three years on, with the help of family, friends and people from our community we are still fostering rescue ponies, some have gone on to be adopted (pony updates are coming soon). We now organise events to raise money for Pukka Ponies and have established an exciting partnership with Dog Smart Training and Behaviour who run puppy, life skills, agility and gundog classes at Little Warden.

The pictures below remind me of everything that has been achieve through friendships and team work. These are the pictures that lift my spirit when I’m feeling exhausted working alone in the field.

Support has come in the form of donations (money, tools, horsey items), physical help, advice, motivational and emotional support and more importantly many people (especially the lovely children) have taken the time to visit the ponies. The ponies that live with us have a wonderful life (I’m biased but it’s true!). We have a small herd which allows us to give them quality time each day. This enables us to quickly build trust and tailor care to meet their individual needs.  We’ve found this approach creates a great environment for their personalities to flourish. There’s no pressure, they’re here to relax and just be horses. All of these people (there are many more but they’re a little camera shy) have been instrumental in changing the lives of our foster ponies for the better, for this we and the ponies are truly thankful.