Pedro the miniature pony given 'Pedroscope' so he can finally see his visitors
London's Ebony Horse Club offers children in deprived inner city areas the chance to learn to ride and interact with horses
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A children’s riding school in one of the most deprived areas of London is appealing for funds to help build one of its ponies a new home – so he can see over his stable door.
Shetland pony Pedro, the newest addition to Brixton’s Ebony Horse Club, stands only 43 inches from the ground and has been struggling to see over his stable door.
Staff and volunteers at the Club, which mentors children from the local area, have created a short video showing the creation of the ‘Pedroscope’ – designed to help their smallest pony see into the yard.
The children brainstormed ideas to help the smallest member of the yard, eventually coming up with an ingenious solution to help the 14-year-old pony, originally from Scotland, via Vauxhall.
Pedro, described as a “very happy chap” by chair of trustees Sue Collins, is used to introduce children to horses, as well as working with disabled children, but the ‘Pedroscrope’ is only a stop-gap solution.
“We are thrilled that Pedro is getting all this attention, but really we need to get him his own specially built stable because we need his stable for our larger horses,” Mrs Collins explained to The Independent.
The Ebony Horse Club currently has 60 children, aged from eight to 18, on its waiting list. With only eight larger ponies – suitable for older children – Pedro’s stable could be used for a ninth, desperately needed, horse.
“We have a lot of teenagers on our waiting list and the young people we work with are growing up in one of the most disadvantaged areas in the UK.”
The club offers access to horses for roughly 160 inner city children every week, a number of whom have gone on to further education or to working within the equestrian industry.
Mrs Collins continued: “The aim is trying to teach them life-skills, it is not just about lovely ponies – in fact it is very far from that.”
“Whatever the children who come and work and ride with us want to do, we help them. We encourage and support them.”
You can view the original video here and donate to the Ebony Horse Club here.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments