Mother daughter team save sad little pony
When chiropractor Sophie Harding found a damaged pony for sale on Trademe, she decided to heal him.
It was a chance browsing of Trademe one evening that brought the “sad little pony” Billy to chiropractor Sophie Harding.
Harding, who formerly lived in the UK, has been a chiropractor for 20 years and using those skills to help rescue horses for five. She believes she has helped at least 100 horses.
She began after noticing one of the ponies at the riding school her daughter attended had an injured leg.
Most of the horses she has helped have had spine, back and shoulder problems. This is because 60% of the weight when riding is distributed to the front legs.
Billy was described on the Trademe post as a lovely pony but he kept bucking his riders off. This sparked Harding’s interest.
“I contacted the owner [of Billy] and asked if there was anything wrong with his back,” said Tauranga-based Harding.
When the answer was no, she contacted the breeder to find out the full story.
The 10-year-old pony had been broken in too late. While most ponies are broken in for riding at three, Billy was broken in at seven. He was then taken for a two day trek after only being broken in for six months, and his rider was much too big for him. Harding also suspects other abuse.
She bought the pony for $800 and began the long process of rehabilitating him. This was a small price to pay as normally horses of his breed would cost around $8000 or more.
Rehabilitation proved a challenge as the pony refused to let anyone in his paddock, let alone touch him.
“When you would run a hand down his back he would just collapse, his eyes would roll back and he would foam up. You could tell he was in a lot of pain.
“He was a very sad little pony when we first got him”
The chiropractor and her daughter Kate, who is an avid rider, spent four months on Billy with the first month spent overcoming his fear of people. They offered him a carrot each day and at first he would just snatch it away but soon he began to trust them. “It took over a month to be able to walk up to him and rub him on the face.”
After four months of chiropractic work on the muscles tendons and ligaments, Kate was finally able to sit on him.
She was able to lie across him for the first time in March last year and they attended their first pony show in October.
Billy is fully rehabilitated and Harding is now looking for an appropriate new owner for him through Trademe.
