The owner of a pony who has come back from three operations to excel in the dressage arena said he is worth every penny – and every hour – spent to get him back doing what he loves.
April Joynson and 17-year-old Bryntegllwynau Rocky Robin won the affiliated elementary and medium classes at Mendip Plains on 16 March. They are also due to contest the elementary silver at the Petplan Winter Area Festival Championships next month, having qualified on Robin’s first show back after his last operation.
April told H&H that vets gave the part-bred Welsh gelding only a 40% chance of returning to a ridden career after his first operation, major colic surgery, six years ago.
“But that was the least of our concerns; we just wanted to get him through the surgery,” she said. “I count my lucky stars because it could have been a very different story.”
April and Robin have been together since she was 12 and he was four.
“He’d done a bit of low-level pony racing; dressage certainly wasn’t on his radar!” April said. “It wasn’t easy at the start – a 12-year-old kid and a four-year-old pony – we had our ups and downs, but when I was about 14, and doing Pony Club teams, we started getting into dressage. He was well balanced and we got quite good scores; we did training, one thing led to another and he’s gone from strength to strength.”
But there have been plenty of challenges along the way. After the colic surgery, Robin had extensive rehab, returning to the arena about a year and a half later.
“At our second competition back, I hadn’t realised it was a qualifier but we qualified for the national riding clubs championships, and came second,” April said. “He got stronger and stronger; I couldn’t believe, after that huge surgery, that I had my pony back, let alone being able to compete again.”
But in 2022, Robin needed another operation, for a forelimb palmar annular ligament. Then last year, he had to have the same procedure on both hind legs.
“He’s rinsed my bank account as he’s not insured!” April said. “But he’s worth every penny.”
April added that she and Robin had achieved the scores they needed for qualification to the Pet Plans before the surgery.
“When I heard the time he would need off, I thought it would never happen,” she said. “But he came back strong and the vets said to crack on – so my first competition back was the qualifier, and he just rose to the occasion. He held first place for ages, then one of the last couple of riders went past us, but to come second and get that golden ticket – I cried in the prizegiving because just to be there was a shock.”
April said she hopes her story may encourage others.
“It’s never plain sailing,” she said. “You only see the good stuff on social media; it’s not always easy but if you’re prepared to stick it out and do the rehab properly, it’s worth it. My little £4,000 pony is worth a million dollars to me and I wouldn’t swap him for the world.”
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