Tom with Pip

This is Tom, our Octogenarian gardener, looking after Pip, our Shetland pony.

We?ve had Pip (short for Pip Squeak) for about 12 years now. We originally got him to keep Bluebelle company in the field. Their relationship is a bit one sided ? Pip adores Bluebelle, however Bluebelle barely tolerates Pip and when he runs off under the electric fence with her bucket of food I think she would happily kick him to the Moon with her enormous feet.

In the summer months we have to keep Pip separate because he gets so bothered by midges and flies that we can?t catch him to treat him for the bites which he is allergic to. We thought we were doing quite well this year having also included injections from the vet to the care program but this weekend it?s not looking too good. So we bought him down, gave him an insecticidal bath, put ointments on his open wounds, sprayed him liberally with fly spray and covered him with Killitch in the hope that he will feel a bit more comfortable at least for a few days. Pip just after his bath

Tom likes to look after Pip. Many years ago he used to work in the mines in Staffordshire and remembers the pit ponies there. He is very tender with Pip and patient when he hops about. Tom has in recent years had to deal with mouth cancer, a result of many years working outside with the Forestry Commission (where he held a record for how many trees he could plant in a day) and on private estates, and chewing tobacco, hence the bandage that he permanently has to wear. But he copes remarkably well, still doing gardening a few hours every day and with the loving support and care of his wife Isobel.

And it?s due to Tom that our front garden and vegetable patch are doing so well.