Kandooequine at the Hill View Farm

   ​Sometimes a special person walks to your life and you just can’t but think what a blessing she is. When Kate Fenner from Kandooequine contacted us last June, offering her time and skills to help with our rescued ponies and horses at the Hill View Farm Animal Refuge, I thought (after having read her impressive CV) – that wow, she would be so what we need but would she really like it with us in the jungles and with the kind of ponies we have.
Months passed fast, Kate making her arrangements to come to India and us just trying to keep up with the daily works and life as we have it between school and work in Ooty town, Hill View Farm in the village and Nigel’s and mine work trips to Goa and Tanzania. I am amazed that Kate kept up her interest to come over despite of my lack of activity in corresponding with her.
So came February and Kate arrived just a day after we had also received a new set of 5 rescued/retired ponies from Animal Rahat/ Maharasthra. At least two of these ponies pregnant. Lot of new work ahead of us. We introduced all our resident equines to her and watched her to get started with a selection of orphans, youngs and new-comer ponies. After the first training session we were nothing short of amazed. Kate was simply fantastic in her calm ways with the horses, her clear way of explaining to us what she does and why and by the results she was achieving with some of the ponies that I had considered already bit of hopeless cases.
Besides of being great with the horses, she fitted well into our sometimes chaotic life and now after just three weeks, I feel like we would have known for longer. We have all learned so much from her and though it is going to be difficult when she is not guiding us here next week anymore, we know we have taken leaps forward in being able to handle our orphans and rescues better. The best part is – Kate is planning to come back next year!
Kate's visit and her work in training our ponies as well as us has also inspired us to push forward the already for long time planned new website for the Hill View Farm Animal Refuge that will better reflect what all happens at the farm nowadays and what IPAN supports. The website is almost ready and I hope to publish it in a week's time. We are already posting on Facebook and on Instagram as #hillviewfarmanimalrefuge and my plan is to revive also this blog (but mostly in English) to become a way to share about the life at the Hill View Farm Animal Refuge.