A new business has been set up in Mid Devon which is giving a new lease of life to rehabilitated ponies, as Richard Birch found out

ALL it takes is a confident stride and Bobby will shadow your every move.

True, his head can be turned by a particularly attractive patch of cow parsley, but as we stroll through the Devon countryside it is difficult to imagine that this conker brown pony was once wild. And not just wild; petrified of people due to a trauma he had experienced in his younger days.

It has taken several years of training and therapy to bring Bobby, now 10, out of his shell and he is now part of the team for a fledgling business that provides a gentle introduction to all things equine.

It took just a few weeks for Faye Stacey, 28, of Tiverton, to come up with the idea for Pony Picnics and then put it into action.

"Bobby still has his quirks," said Faye, "But he's a soppy thing now — just stroke his nose and he will do anything. I think a lot of people are going to fall in love with him."

Pony Picnics offers people the chance to experience formerly wild Dartmoor and Exmoor ponies, learning the basics of pony handling then taking them for walks along quiet lanes and through fields.

There is the added bonus of taking up additional options such as picnics in the open air, thanks to the co-operation of landowners, or cream teas back at base, the Horsefield Farm B&B.

Faye runs the business with the help of People 4 Ponies, a Mid Devon project which began in 2002 when a local farmer who had bought a group of 31 wild ponies to keep his grass down after losing all his cows in a foot and mouth cull, found them surplus to requirements after the crisis.

Faced with the prospect of sending them to slaughter the farmer realised they could be given a better chance in life by being caught, tamed and trained.

This, in turn, led to Paul and Cilla King forming People 4 Ponies. They took on the ponies and began the slow process of their rehabilitation in the fields around Horsefield Farm. The recession saw the number of ponies grow from 31 to 53.

Setting up the business marks the start of a new chapter in Faye's life. "I started having riding lessons while I working at Reuters in Tiverton," she said, "But while I knew how to groom and ride, I didn't feel I was getting close to the horses.

"I started courses to learn about their body language and behaviour, taking a voluntary post with People 4 Ponies. This progressed to an increased role with the project, and now to Pony Picnics.

For more information on Pony Picnics, visit www.ponypicnics. com or call 01884 251251. Experiences must be pre-booked. To find out more about People 4 Ponies, which still has several ponies in need of rehoming, visit www.people4ponies.co.uk