Ha’penny

You measure the height of a horse at its withers (the top of the shoulder) in ‘hands’. A ‘hand’ is the width of a man’s hand – four inches – and the divide between horses and ponies is 15½ hands. Smaller than that: a pony; bigger: a horse.

There’s no doubt which Ha’penny is, because he’s only 10 hands high. He’s a Shetland pony, twenty-five years old, and for every one of those years he’s mostly pleased himself. Talk about Donkey being stubborn – he’s not a patch on Ha’penny.

Ha’penny doesn’t do a lot of work now; he’s just a pet, which is why I’ve chosen him rather than a riding pony to show you. Mind you, he’s carried a good few children in his time (and nipped a good few bottoms too – that’s one of his tricks). Shetland ponies are very useful for getting a child used to being on horseback. Their backs are so broad that small children have to sit with their legs sticking out like a dancer doing the splits!

Now, if you’re lucky enough to have a riding pony of your own, then you’ll know that it needs a lot more attention than a rabbit or a hamster, and a lot more housing too. It needs a roomy loose box where it has space to walk about and have a good roll. And you must muck that box out every day.

Next there’s the grooming. It’s important that you groom your pony – for three reasons: it’s good for its health, it keeps it clean and it makes it look its best. And you must take care of its teeth and, of course, its feet. There’s an old saying, ‘No foot, no horse,’ and feet need looking at every day to make sure they’re clean and healthy. Every six weeks or so the farrier will need to come and shoe your pony.

Nowadays Ha’penny isn’t shod because he doesn’t go out on the roads, but he often has a little girl sitting on his fat old back so he needs his feet looking at regularly.

During his long life Ha’penny has given a lot of pleasure to a lot of children, and you can’t ask more than that of any pet, can you?