Pony in the porch: 10 horses and ponies who've made a sneaky appearance indoors

Who blames these horses and ponies for taking a closer look at the delights of what goes on indoors (central heating, comfy sofas, well-stocked larders...)? We’re just glad we’re not the ones doing the clearing up...

Tea for two?

Tricia Kilby's ponies Maddie and Peanut set up camp in the kitchen. Luckily Maddie, who is the oldest of Tricia's four ponies, "is so polite and always trying to do the right thing"

Digger has placed his bets…

"Digger is a 12-year-old miniature who I have owned since he was a yearling," says Sarah Cotton. "He is a very fast little pony and I think he would like to be a racing Shetland, but he is a bit small for that so he has to dream of it and likes to pop indoors to watch the racing"

‘So this is where you hide’

"This is our driving pony Devon aka Dorrigo Pepper. He is usually seen as a tandem wheeler for driving trials but on this occasion followed me on a whim into the house and was thoroughly interested in the kitchen as if to say 'oh so this is where you hide'!" says Liz Harcombe

‘Hay is nice but…’

"Toni loved the opportunity to look in the fridge as she was always having to watch her weight!" says Wendy Atkins

‘Any food going spare?’

"Smartie definitely thinks she's a dog and goes everywhere with [my son] Freddie! She often wanders into the kitchen from the yard if the front door is left open, mainly to see if there's any food going spare," says Kate White

Meet Bonnie the musician

"We bought Bonnie from York auctions as an unbroken three-year-old and she did everything with my daughters in the next six years including hunting and Pony Club camp. This photo was taken the day before she left for her new home," says Alison de Roeck

‘What’s for breakfast?’

"My little mini Shetland Hercules often pops into the house," says Ele Milwright, from Intelligent Horsemanship. "He’s just three-years-old, but very confident and super-curious. He even popped in for breakfast the other morning to meet Monty Roberts. Hercules said Mr Roberts was pretty good at listening to ponies too!"

Piles of paperwork for Gizmo

"This is Gizmo, a 7hh miniature Shetland gelding who is four-years-old. He went to my college for a week and made it into the college office, checking the dressage scores are right!" says Danielle Hignett

‘Any custard creams going spare?’

"This is Harmony, the miniature Shetland, a therapy pony at Abberley Care Farm, our small family run business," says Anna-May Furness. "Along with Bracken the Welsh Section C, they both regularly wander into the house and classroom for a custard cream!"

Lights, camera, action!

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A graduate from Durham University, Madeleine joined H&H in 2011 and became Features Editor — producing content across the magazine and website, including the popular inside back cover article ‘The horse that made me’ and the weekly ‘The best of my fun…’ interview. She has written on topics as diverse as hay making and headcams, to hot totty in the horse world and circus horses. Madeleine now works as a freelance feature writer for Country Life, The Telegraph, Horse & Hound, cntraveller.com, The Spectator and The Field, as well as writing obituaries for The Times.