Adopt a RDA pony

Hello, my name is Corrie and I am a Welsh Mountain Pony.

I am ridden by children from school groups during the week...

and if the fields are wet, I get to play with Tess in the indoor school during free time. She likes to be scratched, but as she is so big, and I am so small...

it is a challenge to reach up to her withers! The geldings always run around...

and as usual George and Magic get up to mischief!

We raise funds at the centre by offering pony adoption. You can adopt me or one of the other ponies for a year. You will receive a certificate of adoption, a colour A4 size photograph and a card with a picture of your adopted pony on the front. The cost is £25.00 which helps towards keeping your chosen pony. During the year we need hay, straw and feed, and also visits from the vet, farrier and other professionals who keep us in good health. Please visit our website
 www.thepegasuscentre.org.uk  for more information on pony adoption.
Obviously I would like you to adopt me, but you could choose any of my friends who are pictured on the blog.

Heather with Corrie

You can also help us by becoming a volunteer like Heather, who volunteers at the centre twice a week. You could assist in lessons, groom and tack up ponies or help on the yard. We could not do what we do without all our brilliant volunteers, so if you want to make a New Year's resolution...
become an RDA volunteer!



On behalf of all the ponies and everyone who looks after us at The Pegasus Centre, we wish you all a very Happy Christmas.   

Tess the Ardennes Mare

Hello, my name is Tess. I am an Ardennes mare from Belgium and the full name on my passport is Tessa van het Oostrum's Veld.  The Ardennes or Ardennais is one of the oldest breeds of draft horse and their history dates back to Ancient Rome. Throughout the years, blood from several other breeds has been added to the Ardennes, but only the Belgian breed had any significant impact. The breed could be a direct descendent of the prehistoric Solutre horse and is thought to be the type of horse Julius Caesar described as "rustic, hard and tireless".  They were used for heavy cavalry units... the original war horse!
I am very pleased to be an RDA horse.

I have not been at The Pegasus Centre very long, and before I could be ridden, I needed tack. This caused a bit of a problem due to the large size of my head, so parts of my bridle had to be specially made and finding a rug to fit me was a challenge too.  However, I now have a new blue rug to keep me warm this winter.

This week I was checked over by Ed Chinn, a vet from Alnorthumbria, and an Equine Nutritionist was there to weigh all the horses and ponies. As I thought I had overindulged on too much grass, I hid behind a rug hoping they may forget about me...

but being nosy I could not resist looking at what was going on...

so I was put on the scales and after a bit of  a discussion, they all agreed...

that I was the perfect weight for my size... phew!
On Tuesday evenings a group of visually impaired children come to ride.

Peter rides me...

his brother, Daniel, rides Magic...

and Jessica rides Monty. They all enjoy coming to the centre for sessions, and we love them riding us too. We get stroked and patted a lot and sometimes get a scratch too...

 

and there is nothing a horse likes more than a good scratch!

Thank you to Emily and Martin for providing some of the pictures on this post.



 
  

It's Magic... with George!

Hello, my name is George and my best friend is called Magic. We have both recently joined The Pegasus Centre.

George (left) and Magic

Magic has settled in straight away, but it is taking me longer to get used to my new surroundings.

Magic

When I arrived, I was introduced to Emily's dog, Beau. He is very friendly but not always keen to share the hay. Playing in a field and rolling around in mud makes a horse very hungry you know!

George meets Beau

The first time I went inside the indoor school, I thought it was very strange to see another horse in there that looked just like me...

Another George?

but I soon realised that I was just looking at my reflection in a mirror!

Toys are not tasty treats!

It was disappointing to discover that the buckets in the school are full of toys. Personally, I prefer to find horse cubes in buckets!

Hello Niamh

Niamh, who rides Gilly every week, likes to stop and say hello when I am in the paddock. I have to put my head down close to her so she can pat me. I must seem very big to her but I think she knows that I am very gentle with children.

Just testing!

Magic and I share a field with the other geldings but I thought it would be nice to introduce ourselves to the mares. There is an electric fence separating the girls and boys but Magic was sure it was switched off. After checking it was safe...

Head first, then step through. Easy!

I climbed through and told Magic to follow...

Come on, what are you waiting for?

then headed across the field to say hello. Unfortunately I was caught in the act by Kate and Alison...

Sorry Alison, but the grass really is greener on this side!  

so got taken back to the geldings field with Magic.

We need to work on plan B  

I thought Magic was given his name because he had been to Hogwarts with Harry Potter. And if he had an invisible cloak, we could come and go without being noticed. Sadly this is not the case...

Oops, it was just an accident!

and after breaking another fence, I am now wishing for a magic wand!  



Many thanks to Emily and Kate for providing the brilliant pictures for this post.

  
 

Dame Lily

Hello, my name is Blackwater Lily but my friends call me Lily. The Pegasus Centre has been my home for almost five years now. The Jobling-Purser family generously gifted me to Morpeth RDA Group and over the years I have helped many disabled people learn to ride. I have also had great success with riders at the RDA National Championships in Hartpury, Gloucestershire.

As I am getting older I have started to think about my retirement and wondering if I will be honoured  with a Damehood. I am not sure if horses are allowed to be called 'Dame', so I will need to check with our RDA President, HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, who is a great supporter of RDA.
Perhaps I will get Sam Orde to put in a good word for me too.    

Derek riding Lily with Sophie leading

As it was the half term holiday last week, there was a competition at the centre. Derek and James both rode me in the dressage competition.

James riding Lily

James also rode me over ground poles in stage 1 RDA Showjumping.

James riding Lily in stage 1 RDA Showjumping

Ryan rode Chico in stage 2 RDA Showjumping as he can jump higher than me.

Ryan riding Chico in stage 2 RDA Showjumping

Derek, James and Ryan were all placed in their classes and received rosettes from Councillor Valerie Tyler.

James with Cllr. Val Tyler

Ryan with Cllr.Val Tyler

Please visit the Facebook page of our website www.thepegasuscentre.org.uk to see more photographs from our competition. Well done to all of the riders who took part!

Magic has recently joined the centre and did very well in his first competition...

unfortunately he will never be a Dame!









Many thanks to Lisa and David Gillespie and Susan Heads for taking photographs at the competition.

A big pat for Monty

Hello! my name is Monty. My owner, Susan, kindly offered me to The Pegasus Centre on a long term loan. I am happy to be here because I have made many new friends and am ridden by lots of children who benefit from RDA lessons. Susan is able to see the good work that I do when she comes to visit me at the centre.      

On Friday mornings we have three sessions for different school groups and Chief RDA instructor Samantha Orde (we call her Sam) teaches the children. Sam is also the RDA National Chairman so all the ponies try to be on their best behaviour when she is instructing.  

This week I was ridden by a little girl called Amy who comes along with one of the school groups. Amy usually rides Zak because he is a smaller pony, but as he has a sore hoof, I was chosen for Amy to ride instead. When Amy rode for the first time she was very nervous and had two side walkers to help her. After riding for a few school terms, Amy gained confidence and now only needs one side walker.

Last week, when Amy rode Zak, I noticed she was holding on to the front of the saddle to keep herself steady. As I am a much bigger pony I was hoping Amy would not be too frightened to get on me. But once she was mounted and we set off round the school, Amy picked up the reins!

 

Amy was happy to lean in to a bucket and pull out a toy...

 

and place a hoop on a cone.

A happy smile as Amy demonstrates how she can lean forward to go through the arena doors...

and then off we went for a walk outside.

Sam looks to check that the gate is shut behind us as we made our way up the sand track.

The sun started to break through as we headed back to the indoor arena.
I have no idea why I was at the back... Chico and Jen are much slower than me!

Back inside, Amy was still sitting up straight, holding her reins and looking very relaxed. She clearly enjoys riding me!

Jenny, Amy's teacher, and RDA volunteer Anna, explained to Amy that we must wait for Sam to dismount her.
 

 A thumbs up to Sam...

and a nice pat for me! Sam and Jenny agree that Amy has more confidence. 

 

Jenny takes Amy's hand and they join the other children on the school bus.
 I think Amy would like to ride me again next week... but

we all hope that Zak gets well soon!