Tinkerbell the miniature pony is our littlest girl, standing at only 28 inches tall.Â
In her early life, Tinkerbell’s owner struggled to care for her, and so she went to live at Lofty Therapy Horses. She arrived in a bad condition, but her carers there used their knowledge and experience to bring her hooves back to health. During her time working as a therapy pony, she met Poppet, Munchkin and Starburst – all miniature ponies that now live with us, and her carers had great success in looking after her. Unfortunately, one of Tinkerbell’s other companions had to be put to sleep soon after arrival due to severe damage to the pedal bone – caused by repeated attacks of laminitis. Nevertheless, she lived well alongside her miniature herd. She then returned to her previous owner.Â
Unfortunately, two years on the owner found that she was again unable to care for Tinkerbell. The decision was made, with help and advice from Lofty Therapy Horses, that Tink would end her travels and have a forever home at Far From.
Introducing Tink back into a field with ponies her size (and some she already knew) was a delight. On arrival, she wasn’t as confident as you would normally expect with miniatures, however she soon settled in and is now very expressive, confident and has a big personality in the herd.
Tink is a peoples’ pony and thrives on the love and care she gets at Far From. She plays an active role in the meet-and-greet with our guests and is flourishing. We are honoured to have her as part of the family.
This loving little girl could melt anyone’s heart and we are honoured to have her.
Like most of our wonderful rescue animals, little Tink isn’t cheap to care for. If you’d like to gift our little girl some fruit for snacking, a farrier’s visit or even a rug, we’d all be extremely grateful.
We opened the Far From Holiday Retreat in order to provide us with funds to enable us to continue our work with these beautiful animals. All new arrivals must be microchipped and passported (and normally they aren’t), vaccinated three times, rasped, wormed and given a general health check by the vet – with the majority requiring many more visits to ensure that they are happy and healthy.
If you are unable to come and visit us, you can still help us to continue our work by supporting us financially. We have included a couple of options below.
Ponies are used to eating small meals throughout the day and breaking up the treats will help maintain their eating schedule. Almost any fruits, and many vegetables, are safe treats for healthy ponies. Apples and carrots are traditional favourites especially with our miniature ponies!
Salt is the one nutrient that ponies will self-supplement to balance their diet and is a real treat for Starburst! She gets very excited when he gets a salt lick and becomes great entertainment for her and us!
We feed Chaff to our ponies to bulk out their concentrate feed and to prevent them eating too quickly. Chaff is dried forage that has been cut into small pieces, in contrast to the long grass stems in hay and haylage. All of our ponies absolutely love it!
We use fly spray for our horses and ponies especially in the summer months. Flies are a general nuisance, but for some of our horses their bites can lead to reactions and persistent itching and discomfort, so this really is a lifesaver as they are highly effective and long-lasting!
All our miniatures have come to us either with or struggle with laminitis. Making sure minis get their vitamins is really important. Now because we have the landscape that these miniature are designed to live on, they probably don’t need all the supplements.
Linseed is high in oil and has been fed to horses for many years for its significant health benefits. These health benefits are predominantly linked to the high presence of Omega 3 fatty acids. We feeding our ponies linseed to promote healthy skin and to help with a high shine on their coats.
Farrier bills every equine needs their hooves trimmed every 6 to 10 weeks depending on the pony. To have a happy healthy ponies it is essential to have a fully qualified, caring, reliable farrier.
This type of rug keeps the pony clean and dry without providing much warmth. Ideal for mild but wet weather.
