Meet the pint-sized ponies visiting hospitals, schools and care homes - providing therapeutic cuddles for those in need.
Owner Sarah Woodland, 42, was gifted two mini Shetland ponies in the summer of 2022 by a friend.
Poppy, 16, and Tinks, 17, stand at just 30 inches tall and love being stroked and fussed over.
Sarah started doing private one-to-one enrichment sessions with the pair before deciding to visit a local care home with them to encourage residents connect with the animals.
The session went so well she decided to make them both therapy ponies - to provide comfort and interaction to people who need it - and now she takes them into special schools, hospitals and care homes.
Owner Sarah Woodland, 42, was gifted two mini Shetland ponies in the summer of 2022 by a friend.
Poppy, 16, and Tinks, 17, stand at just 30 inches tall and love being stroked and fussed over.
Sarah started doing private one-to-one enrichment sessions with the pair before deciding to visit a local care home with them to encourage residents connect with the animals.
The session went so well she decided to make them both therapy ponies - to provide comfort and interaction to people who need it - and now she takes them into special schools, hospitals and care homes.
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FunTranscript
00:00I'm Sarah Woodland and I'm the owner of Dinky Ponies.
00:04I started Dinky Ponies a couple of years ago.
00:07It started really as just a party venture
00:11where I would take ponies to parties
00:14and then it came to the winter of that summer
00:17and I thought well this isn't going to be a great idea anymore
00:20because parties outside in the UK aren't going to be great.
00:23So I put a couple of calls into some care homes
00:26to see whether they would be interested
00:28and it kind of went really busy from there
00:32and we've just got so many regular visits now
00:35to schools and to care homes
00:37and to anywhere that really wants us to visit.
00:39I've got seven ponies in total.
00:41They all do different jobs
00:43so Poppy is incredibly good with the elderly.
00:46She's very calm and patient
00:48and then I have others that are very good with children
00:51and loud noises,
00:53dealing with maybe unexpected movements
00:57Poppy's not so great with that
00:59because she's much more sensitive.
01:01So they all have their little niche
01:03and they excel in certain areas
01:06so I try and rotate them as much as possible
01:08when it comes to visits
01:10and where we are and what we're doing.
01:12As much as it is important for the residents
01:14I actually think it's just important for the staff as well
01:17whether it be care staff or teachers or whoever it is
01:21I think that our mental health has a big impact
01:24on how we feel and how we carry out our jobs and our roles
01:29so I do think that just having a little bit of joy
01:32a little bit of humour to the day
01:35having a pony go in inside and going up in a lift
01:37and just spreading a bit of happiness
01:39can make everyone feel so much better.