A Lewis woman is keeping her horse in her own living room after difficulties in finding it shelter over the winter.
Stephanie Noble has converted her semi-
The 65-
Horse takes up residence in owner’s own home 11/1/12
The former riding school operator, originally from Londonderry, bought the animal in Ireland for nearly £1,900 five months ago but faced a raft of problems in securing grazings nearby.
Latterly, it was being kept in North Tolsta but a fallout with the landowner resulted in the pony being “dumped” in the small front garden of Ms Noble home, on a chilly Christmas Eve.
Ms Noble spent Christmas Day clearing furniture to create a makeshift stable inside the house. Erect wooden pallets mark out a stall and bedding hay is strewn over heavy duty rubber mats across the livingroom floor.
Bags of feeding stuff are stacked in the kitchen, tack and equestrian equipment is stored upstairs and horse blankets are kept in the bathroom.
The only habitable space left for Ms Noble is a small upstairs bedroom.
She mucks out the front room continually to discard the pony’s droppings and uses cat litter to soak up its urine.
Everyday, the fully grown pony trots out the porch and down the steps to graze on the front lawn.
Animal charity SSPCA has offered to take the pony away and rehome it but Ms Noble says she can look after it better.