The Not-So-Secret Diary of Diva the Shetland Pony – Staying Overnight

When showing our Shetland ponies Diva (Melland Queen of Scots) and Jackson (Melland Jackson Jive), we stay overnight at a couple of big shows each season.

Unlike the horseboxes of lots of competitors, ours doesn’t have a living area, so once the ponies are offloaded we convert the area where they have travelled to our bedroom.

We always get the ponies settled in their stables with plenty of hay, water and bedding before we even think about getting ourselves sorted out. This sometimes makes life a little difficult if it is after dark!

I am sure some people will be horrified at us putting beds where the ponies have been, but we have got it down to a fine art. Firstly we remove any droppings and sweep the area out thoroughly. We then sprinkle powder over the area to remove any odours and cover the area with waterproof picnic rugs. These act as another barrier for smells and are cosy underfoot.

The next stage is putting our camp beds down and our sleeping bags and pillows on the beds. My little dog, Flora, always accompanies us and she is very happy once she has a cosy bed to lie on. Funnily enough, she usually opts for my sister’s rather than mine!

Although we don’t have beds in our horsebox, we do have a sink, tap and a gas ring in the groom’s area/day living. All the big venues have showers available onsite (some are cleaner than others) and we have our trusty Popaloo camping toilet to use!

In 2023 we found a camp site near Robin Hood’s Bay, North Yorkshire, that allowed you to take your horses with you on holiday. Although we didn’t want to take the ponies, I contacted Heidi at Farsyde Farm Campsite to see if she would allow a horsebox to stay onsite as a campervan, as many campsites don’t allow it. Heidi was more than happy for us to do so as we would have been sleeping in it if we had brought the ponies.

So, for the first time, we set out in the box with our “bedroom” already set out. We had a wonderful couple of days in the campsite on the top of the cliffs above Robin Hood’s Bay and got up early to watch the summer solstice sunrise. As the sun came up over the sea, it was such a magical moment and it remains very special to me. The weather was perfect, clear skies and no wind, and as we walked back to our “campervan” we spotted deer and other wildlife as the new day was waking up.