We decided it would be only be right to start with our gracious elder of the herd Pepsi. Being a more mature lady, Pepsi and I had our interview and munched our hay with an Earl Grey tea under the shade of her favourite tree. Pepsi said she didn’t have long as it was afternoon snooze time but we did have a lovely chat.
Did you know that Pepsi is 31 years old this year? She was born in 1989. That’s pretty good going for a horse, in human years she would be over 90! She has been at Diamond since 1994 – the year our staff member Skye was born! Pepsi has been at Diamond longer than Mickey, Frank and Thomas combined and for many of our riders, Pepsi was the first horse/pony they ever rode, she is very proud of being considered a safe set of hoofs for the hippotherapy riders and the little ones when they first start.
Pepsi said she loved the attention she gets from the younger riders, volunteers and members of staff over the years, she told me it’s the best way to keep yourself young is to surround yourself with young people. However, she is not to keen on the younger horses too much as they dash about too quickly and prefers to spend her horsey time chewing the cud with Splash who is her nearest and dearest – and it’s nice to have someone she can look down on, saves a lot of neck ache!
Pepsi told me that some of her favourite memories are from the horse parade at the annual Christmas show when all of the herd would be in the arena together. I was quite suprised at this as I heard on good authority that she used to get so excited the Trustees had to stop it for fear of Pepsi having a heart attack or – more likely – causing her leader to!
Pepsi has been enjoying her rest over this lockdown, she especially enjoyed the Queen’s address to the nation (she knows her daughter by the way). She did have to turn her hearing aid up as the house that had the TV on shut their window half way through the speech. Pepsi does love the royal family and was very keen to make the point that with age comes wisdom and that she and HRH are of a similar age.
Pepsi is planning on finding some yoga online to practice and thought she would start off with a lie down-knees-bent-in-the-sun-position whilst Splash grazes around her. She has asked me to tell all the volunteers, especially those like her, of a more mature aspect, to be sure to try stay safe during this time and she is looking forward to time for us to all be back at Diamond and she is doing her best to keep fit to be ready to step back up to the block when required.
Pepsi and every pony at Diamond send you their love, make sure you keep your ears out for the next edition of Dougal Dines With… Until next time Dougal 