The Vision: The Rainbow Pony Team - bringing joy and peace

The Rainbow Team

This is the link to the BBC radio interview

https://youtu.be/2Ek-V5MmWyo

The Rainbow Pony Team will establish beautiful oases around the world where people will not only receive healing and restoration, but the inspiration and motivation to live their dreams. People will have the opportunity to spend time with horses and ponies, enjoy creative arts, or simply hang out in the stunning surroundings of our self- sufficient breakthrough centres.

These oases are crucial. So many people are desperate and struggling, often suffering from personal challenges or emotional pain, and don’t know where to turn for help. My own journey has been no different, but over many years, helped by the ponies that have always been part of my life, and my deep faith in God, I have overcome so much and lived out many of my dreams. I now want to help others to fast track their own healing processes and live their dreams. Everyone who ever they are, will thrive on the contact with these ponies, the inspiration, encouragement and having just pure fun!

I made this fun little film clip of training my ponies!

The Rainbow Team Story

No one should ever doubt that dreams really can come true, as proved by my own life. I spent much of my childhood in an imaginary world of cowboys and Indians, galloping across the moor on Dartmoor ponies. Decades later, I found myself riding solo across America, from Mexico to Canada, learning to rope cattle with cowboys and drive them with Native Americans along the way. And my quarter horses happened to be called Smokey and Pistol!

I have been blessed to live so many of my dreams, and Dartmoor ponies have often been a part of them. These wonderful animals have always brought me peace, fun and joy, so now I want to use this rare breed to do the same for others, inspiring them to live their own dreams!

The highlight of my childhood was my seventh birthday, when my father led a pony called Little Goose into our kitchen, wrapped in brown paper. But this idyllic picture did not last long. Soon after, my parents separated, my father moved away, and I struggled at school, hampered by severe dyslexia. Almost overnight, the ponies became the only source of stability in my life.

After struggling through school, I enjoyed taking a pre-degree in art, but my application to do a Fine Arts degree was turned down. Instead, I joined a travelling circus where I worked with and sketched the animals. At the end of the circus season, I went to work on a kibbutz in Israel and hitchhiked to Jerusalem where I became a Christian.

Aged just 19, I taught horse riding in Midwest America and sold antiques in California (which I knew so little about!). By my mid-twenties I had qualified as a documentary photographer in South Wales and for several years I worked as a photographer for magazines. During this time, I went to Buckingham Palace to interview His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh about his own passion for horses. I also flew across the world to New Zealand to ride 2,000 miles from North to South Island.

Handling a newborn foal is one of the many joys of Dartmoor ponies.

I was loving the challenge of magazine work... but overnight my employer went bust, owing me thousands of pounds. I had just enough money to create and print six postcards, but this helped me start my own business whilst living in a small caravan with my dog, Sam. Year by year, through hard work, determination and faith, I steadily grew the business. Ten years later, I finally published my first book, Riding by Faith through New Zealand.

My adventurous spirit was calling again! On a shoestring budget, I travelled to Scotland, bought two Highland ponies and rode from the north coast to Land’s End in England. After returning home to Dartmoor, I saved up enough to ride around Southern Ireland the following year.

Over a decade after my first ride in New Zealand, I returned to make a second ride. This time I bought two beautiful palomino horses! I completed my ride with a thrilling win at the Tolago Bay Beach Races on the East Coast on my horse Favour! More epic journeys on horseback followed: from Mexico to Canada across America, from Greece and over the European Alps to north west Spain and then – the realisation of another long-held dream – I rode around Israel.

Ten years ago, I started my own herd of Dartmoor ponies with a black mare called Shilstone Rocks Rainstorm, given to me by my mother, the founder of the well-known Shilstone Rocks Stud.

I had no land of my own, but a neighbour let me use their field for grazing in exchange for dog sitting. Rainstorm’s first foal was born and became the subject of a book, Rainbow the
Pony. Then followed Thunder Bay (who features in Thunder the Foal), Lightning, Raindrop, Rainflower and Talia (morning dew in Hebrew). I borrowed a few more of my mother’s mares to add new bloodlines, and my herd continued to grow... but so did the struggle to find grazing. I was like a nomad, travelling from place to place with my ponies.

I put the two Dartmoor mares in foal in the middle of winter on Dartmoor (above).

They flew carrying their foals to the other side of the world, New Zealand (below).

I’d had a vision of children riding along the beach on the coast of New Zealand, so in 2013 I exported two mares to the farm owned by my sister and her husband in Hawkes Bay, North Island – something she had always wanted. They were kindly given to us by our mother and we put them in foal before flying them out (four for the price of two, but still very expensive!). Like so many of my faith projects, it used up most of my savings.

I thank God that both mares had healthy foals and have since multiplied and brought joy to many children. Last year, we exported a stallion we bred in New Zealand to Australia, so helping to preserve this wonderful and endangered rare breed worldwide.

Back home on Dartmoor, in a small way, my ponies have already been bringing joy to children from inner city homes. They have been invited to interact with my ponies through specially organised group activities.

The ongoing Vision:

The Dartmoor pony is a rare breed with an exceptionally kind temperament, making them ideal for children, although they can also carry small adults. For larger riders, I will incorporate other rare native British pony breeds into the team, including the Fell and Highland pony. These are bigger, but also have lovely kind temperaments.

The Rainbow Team on Dartmoor will expand worldwide to the beautiful sandy beaches in New Zealand (where we already have Dartmoor ponies), to the majestic mountains of North America and beyond, to the end of the Rainbow!

I can offer half-day sessions, which could include:
* Introduction to myself and how I have lived so many of my dreams. As I often say during my photographic presentations, despite struggles and obstacles, if we believe we can, we can live our dreams - one of mine being the Rainbow Team of Dartmoor ponies, which I introduce.

* Introduction to the Dartmoor ponies they see on the moor.
Demonstration of how to brush a pony, followed by the children doing it.
Demonstration of how to lead a pony, which is followed by them leading the ponies out for a walk on Dartmoor.
Q&A, plus a little souvenir of their special time.

This is currently only open to small, organised groups.
For further information please do get in touch with Tracey via the Contact page.
Special events for the future:
Rainbow training workshops
Teaching the Rainbow Team tricks (with Israeli trick rider Ruthie)
Learning to ride – across Dartmoor
Pony events / painting
Rainbow Pony visits to those who can’t come to Dartmoor. We can go to them (eg: children’s homes, old people’s homes).
Travelling Rainbow Pony Display Team make appearances at shows.
Telling my stories of how my dreams came true, including my adventure photo presentations.