DAMERHAM SHETLAND PONY STUD

12/03/2026

The evenings are slowly drawing out.

11/03/2026

Shared…

Humans put horses into stables for the majority of their day, neglecting their need to move.

Disabling their ability to interact with other horses.

Then, they expect the horse horses to behave normally.

When the horses act out dangerously, the humans respond by suggesting things like nose, chains, lip chains, or some other means of control for a behaviour that is created by human management…

When the horses start biting and being aggressive because the presence of a human is a predictor of discomfort, the humans suggested that the horses need to be disciplined to learn more “respect.”

So, they start hitting and shaking the horses for biting.

But, the horses remain in the stables.

They remain without any social interaction outside of these unfavourable interactions with people.

Perhaps, some of them shut down and get easier to handle.

But many don’t.

Many just become periodically more and more frustrated, their behaviour being more and more unpredictable and dangerous.

Those ones are labelled as the rank horses.

And the anger and frustration humans feel and handling them is palpable to the Horse.

The Horse knows that they are not liked. They can feel the contempt emanating off of the people who handle them.

This helps nothing.

A perpetual cycle of dangerous behaviour on the part of the horse, putting humans at risk.

The humans notice this and are rightfully scared.

But, their way of handling it actually perpetuates the issue.

They never address the root cause.

They simply label symptoms of it as bad behavior.

Then they try to punish those behaviors.

The horse is given no real options.

They are expected to live in unacceptable living circumstances that do not meet their needs and stress them out, and they are expected to do so without complaint and without any presence of unwanted behavior.

How unbelievable of an expectation.

To not only be expected to withstand living in a world that does not meet your needs, but to be expected to do so without ever having it be noticeable.

This is the reality for so many horses.

Especially high dollar competition horses.

All under the guise of keeping the horse safe and injury free, priming them for human use.

None of these decisions are being made with the horses in mind.

It is all human centered, but ironically, in centering themselves, people endanger themselves more.

Meet horses needs and you do not find so many dangerous behaviors.

A large portion of behavioural problems we experienced with horses are directly contributed to, or created entirely, by humans.

It is time people take more accountability for the role they play in their horses behavior.

We cannot expect horses to be their best selves while we deprive them of their most basic and crucial needs.

07/03/2026

Admin / Agricultural Location: New Park, Brockenhurst Event: New Forest and Hampshire County Show We are looking for an organised and enthusiastic Livestock Secretary / Show Administrator to join our team at New Park, Brockenhurst. This is a varied and...

03/03/2026

03/03/26 - let Moulting commence!
The ladies and Jeffas after a pretty ruff start to 2026 with heavy rain daily.

03/03/2026

03/03/2026

Well done to you all xx 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

22/02/2026

22/02/2026

Victor Rose - my friend… congratulations on your success!

18/02/2026

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather

Latest weather conditions and forecasts for the UK and the world. Includes up to 14-days of hourly forecast information, warnings, maps, and the latest editorial analysis and videos from the BBC Weather Centre.

17/02/2026

You did this voluntarily.

That’s the part that really gets me.

Nobody forced us.
Nobody tricked us.
There wasn’t a small-print clause hidden in the contract.

We saw the mud.
We saw the cost.
We heard the stories.

And we still said…
“Yes please. I’d like one large, emotionally complex prey animal.”

We told ourselves:
“I’ll just pop to the yard for half an hour.”

Now it’s three hours later, you’re damp, you’ve reorganised rugs for weather that hasn’t even happened yet, and you’re Googling something suspicious about droppings.

You swore you wouldn’t need much stuff.
Now you own:
• 47 rugs
• 12 lead ropes
• A mysterious collection of buckets
• And an entire wardrobe dedicated to clothes that smell faintly of hay

Your bank account has trust issues.
Your wellies live in your car.
You’ve developed a sixth sense for “something feels slightly off.”

And yet…

That nose on your shoulder.
That soft nicker.
That quiet moment when the yard is still and it’s just you and them.

You did this voluntarily.

And you’d do it again.

Because this isn’t just horse ownership.
It’s mud, madness, loyalty, exhaustion, laughter…
and a soul connection wrapped in a rug that cost more than your first car. 🐴💛

17/02/2026

✨ Happy Chinese New Year to all our friends in Hong Kong! 🇭🇰

We absolutely loved meeting you and experiencing your kindness and support towards us and our ponies.

From all of us at the Shetland Pony Grand National, we wish you a year filled with happiness, success, and hopefully lots of pony fun.

We hope to see you again soon!