Lower Wall Yard 2002 - 2004

Where It All Began

In the summer of 2002, we visited Lower Wall Yard to learn more about grooming and looking after horses, just for fun really. I had no actual intention of buying but before I knew it, we had looked at a little pony who was up for sale. That was Little Mo (Mojo). She was at a yard in Lower Wall, owned by Dave Pentacost.

When Dave first showed her to us, I thought that she was a funny looking little thing. She had a very strange mane with a sort of quiff in the middle, like a teddy boy! She had a very crooked white blaze and a tiny wonky star that was more like a stripe on her forehead! She was quite rounded. She was in fact so round, that she later rolled onto her back in the field, in a tractor rut and became completely stuck!

A young girl called Jodi rode her in the field for us and took her over a couple of jumps. She looked so well behaved that Tash (my daughter), took her out on a hack with Dave to see what she was like as I was too nervous and hadn’t ridden for years.

When they got back, I sat on Mo in the field and I was terrified when she promptly neighed really loudly, threw her head up and down (most probably because I was holding the reins too tightly) and started to walk off.

When I later asked Tash how her hack went, she said that Mo was perfect. I didn’t find out until later that she had been really naughty on that first ride but Tash was so desperate at that point for me to buy her that she didn’t say anything to put me off!

And so I bought Mo, in the summer of 2002. At the age of 42, I had finally achieved a childhood dream to own a pony. And so our adventures together, and a brand new chapter in my life began....

Mojo was the perfect size for Tash and me to ride and we were so excited about sharing lots of fun times together with her.

A girl we knew, called Sam came to see her a couple of weeks later and had a ride in the school. Mojo was her usual cheeky self and began chucking out the occasional buck! We said to Sam, "so what do you think of her Sam?" and the reply was "erm well she’s very sweet Pennie, but I wouldn’t have got her for a first pony".

Mojo’s first passport

Us getting ready for a lovely hack out

Mo and her field buddy, Major

The first day we took her in the field

The First Ride

I still remember our first hack out. Dave took us up on the zoo ride, which went through Port Lympne and we rode past wild ponies, zebras and elephants. Little Mo was so good. She had a lovely comfy trot and walk and it was so exciting! Boy did I ache the next day though. I hadn’t ridden for years and that was nearly a two hour ride!

On weekends, days off and holidays, the three of us, Richard (my husband), Tash and me, would ride out together and then I would ride Mo out once during the week. I got much fitter and lost lots of weight so that made it more comfy for her.

The problem was that Mo really did want to kick other horses. She didn’t like being around them, not even her field buddy Major, at times. In fact one morning we found that Mo had kicked down the entire partition wall between them both. She was standing in the corner looking as sweet as ever, as if to say ‘What? I didn’t do it’. She also tried to kick another horse, Buster, when he got too close, kicked my leg instead and I ended up with a haematoma the size of a golf ball on my ankle!

Hacking Out

We had some wonderful rides round the country lanes, up the hills, in the daytime and sometimes the evenings. Dave took us on some good long pub rides too. Sometimes they would go on for hours, crossing bridges, going along dual carriageways, along country lanes, through fields and woods and taking little jumps along the way. We had such great times together.

I learnt how to long rein and lunge and how to jump over barrels and jumps on Mojo, although Tash often had to run up behind her to get her to go over them. After a while I even enjoyed the thrill of jumping Mo over larger fallen trees through the woods. Once, when I took her on her own, we jumped the logs through there together. It really is one of the most memorable moments ever, in my entire life. It’s a special one that we shared, which I will keep close to my heart, always....

Tash took her over jumps at a show, even though she said she was terrified. Mojo was quite a pickle, not wanting to do the jumps and trying to kick other ponies but Tash managed to get a clear round with her and they both looked fabulous....

Naughty Mo

Mojo was often extremely naughty. Once when she was out on a hack going down Lympne Hill, which is extremely steep, something spooked her and the next thing Richard saw was Mojo, overtaking him at a great speed, whilst going down the hill!

Her favourite trick in the school, was riding like a crab. She would go sideways trying to get out of whatever we were asking her to do, often nearly bringing us to tears, she really was so cheeky. She could of course also be very adorable and sweet. She loved being groomed so long as there was something nice to eat, but she didn’t like her mane being pulled so I just cut that, well what half of it she had left. Mojo quite liked to hack out, so long as it wasn’t on her own, and she enjoyed jumping. After a long hack, we would often find her sleeping in her stable and sit next to her on the floor...

When Mo went on one of Dave’s hacks up to the beach, she decided that she would be the only one who wouldn’t go down onto the sand from the sea wall. She was a right so and so and very determined! We finally managed to coax her down after a great deal of time and she joined the others for a lovely ride...

Moving On

We left Dave’s yard in 2004 so that Richard’s big black mare Parry, could have separate grazing as she used to kick other horses in the field and so had very limited turnout which made her a bit nutty on our hacks out!

In 2015 however, we went back to Lower Wall, with Little Mo, for a lovely visit with Dave. I rode her there and she stood eating hay in a stable watching us meet all of Dave's new dogs and listening to us reminisce about the old times. It was really lovely...

Very sadly, Dave passed away in March, 2019. We will always be grateful to him for finding and selling our beautiful Mojo and Parry to us.....

Mojo waiting patiently at Dave’s yard on our visit.

A beautiful picture of Little Mo at Dave’s yard on our visit in 2015