I was given Silver in 2007 and the choice was pretty simple, have her or she is put to sleep!

I still don’t know a lot about her background. At the time she was 14 years old; her teeth are not great. Silver had one foal and lost another and she had the reputation of being the most ‘dangerous, nasty’ animal anyone had ever met. When I was given her, I had lost count of the number of people that told me I would never be able to do anything with her and that she would probably kill me!

Silver met Stefan and Anke and the rest of the team at LtL. For the first 2 weeks things did not go well. Silver was terrified of being touched and would lash out with both front and back legs if you came too close. Silver was definitely a remedial and semi-wild pony! However, every morning Anke would go in and muck out around her, building a little more trust every day. Every evening I would travel the hour long journey to work with Stefan, Anke and the team trying to convince Silver she would not die if she was touched. Tried and tested methods failed, new methods thought up, it was endless but the patience and commitment never wavered. There were questions about whether it was fair to put Silver through so much stress, but the possibility of her becoming ill in the future with no one able to help her was not an option, and work carried on.

To explain in detail how much work, time and dedication went into Silver would take forever! However, three weeks later Stefan touched her and I cried the full journey home. From there, we went from strength to strength and while it was never easy (ask Stefan about catching her in a paddock in the early days), the team worked with Silver and me every day until she could come home. They had to teach her everything, from grooming, picking up feet, wearing a head collar, being lead and wearing a rug. The list goes on and on, but it was all done quietly and competently giving Silver clear boundaries in a language she understood, with no reason for her to fear anyone!

Silver has been home for almost a year now and in many ways is a normal well adjusted little pony. Occasionally she has flash backs but Stefan and Anke are always at the other end of the phone if I need them. I can never thank them enough for what they did for Silver and me; I learned so much from them and her. Even now I look at her and cannot believe that the cuddly, content little pony I have was the physically and emotionally damaged one I had two years ago. Thanks guys!! I feel privileged to have worked and learned from you.

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