Sandra Ashenford reflects on the ups and downs of her week

I MADE the heart-breaking decision this week to have the smaller of my two ponies put to sleep.

Pepsi was a very cheeky Welsh mountain pony, with bags of character.

He came to live with us five years ago, and was ridden by my two youngest daughters.

On a couple of occasions, he was the guest of honour at birthday parties for daughter number four, and accommodated hordes of excited children who wanted to ride and pet him.

He wasn’t a particularly cuddly pony but he was happy to put up with all the attention just as long as they kept feeding him apples and carrots.

Eating was his life-long passion and every morning and every evening when I picked up the feed bowls he would neigh with excitement.

He was a white pony, which in horsey terms made him a grey, even though he was usually brown, as he just loved rolling in the mud (another pig-like tendency!) Grey ponies are sometimes prone to melanomas, small tumours which often grow around the tail area.

Mostly these are benign, and don’t cause any problems at all.

But two years ago, I noticed that the melanomas around Pepsi’s tale had suddenly begun to grow, and his tail also seemed to be affected.

An X-ray revealed that the tail bone was encircled by tumours but fortunately they were not attacking the bone itself.

What was more worrying was what might be going on elsewhere, which we couldn’t see.

But Pepsi was well in himself, so we retired him from active service and he was very happy pottering around with our other pony, Mr Morgan.

Earlier in the week, though, I noticed that Pepsi seemed to be having some problems with his back legs.

A couple of days later, he was virtually immobile.

The vet confirmed what I had feared – that the tumours had spread along his back.

Putting him to sleep was the kindest thing to do and Hollie, from Waterlane Equine Vets, was so kind and compassionate, to both me and Pepsi.

We are all missing him terribly, especially Mr Morgan.

He really doesn’t like being on his own. I think we will get another pony, but it is very hard at the moment. I know I made the right decision but the sight of his empty stable is just so sad.