Tiny rider Lula Noble-Lewis may not be able to speak much yet but she knows “pony” – and “more”, which was her call after her very first ride, aged 15 months, on stallion Simba.
Lula’s mother Tamsin told H&H she and her husband Jamie bought the miniature Shetland for Lula’s first birthday in December, and the pair have developed a close bond.
“It’s just so sweet,” she said. “It’s a very trusting relationship. I wasn’t brought up in the horsey world, but I’m realising now the bond you can have with them, it’s really lovely. They follow each other around and there’s that trust, so when she was riding him, it was just the perfect fit.”
Tamsin said Jamie was originally the horsey one; she “married into it – and I love it”.
“We’ve got five horses now, including Simba, and I’ve started riding too,” she said. “It’s our bread and butter so we wanted to get her a pony and he’s so lovely.
“We didn’t go out looking for a stallion! I was looking at ponies, and showing them to Jamie as he knows so much more than me. Simba was for sale and they said he was really good with kids. When we went to see him, Jamie did a few bits with him and we thought he was perfect – and he has been.”
The Noble-Lewises brought Simba home in November and he and Lula were introduced soon afterwards. They have been spending time together ever since, but Lula’s parents waited until her balance and walking had improved to put her on board for the first time last weekend.
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“When we took her off, she was just saying ‘More? More?’” Tamsin said. “She’s got a little rocking horse in her room and we’ve been putting her on that and clicking, so she does that now but she’s upgraded from her bedroom pony to a real one.
“She says ‘pony, Mum, Dad’; the odd word, but a lot of them, and she definitely knows what ‘more’ means! We can’t pass the stables without saying hello to him, or she gets very upset.”
And it’s not just passing the stables either; videos on Tamsin’s Instagram show that Simba is also a frequent visitor to the house.
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“I was working from home recently, as we’d started having the nice weather, and Simba just wandered in,” Tamsin said. “Of course Lula absolutely loved it and now it’s taken off. I call it Simba and Lula’s kitchen; he just comes in and has his dinner with her, it’s lovely. I leave the door open but if I don’t, he’s waiting at the back door – and it’s the longest she’ll stay in her high chair so it’s brilliant for me!”
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Tamsin said coming into the equestrian world has been “an eye-opener”.
“It’s amazing, I’m so happy to be a part of it now,” she said. “Her childhood, growing up with ponies – what more could you want? I thought I needed to learn to ride and know what I’m doing, if she’s going to grow up with it, and it’s so nice as a family to do, even just going to the stables.
“People who don’t have horses might see it as a chore but I love it. I’m so glad this is our lifestyle now; I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
