Shetland ponies are strong, intelligent, and gentle. They might look fragile because of their tiny size, but they are anything but that. They are hardy animals, which used to work in mines in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Just like any pony, this breed too is cute and it is often ridden by children.
Again, don’t let the small size fool you – Shetland ponies can be wily.
Alvin is a Shetland pony who lives in Sweden, adopted by Paulina, a digital creator.
As Paulina explains, when she adopted him, he was shy and not keen on interacting with anyone, but this changed over time.
“When I first got him, he wasn’t very used to people,” she told The Dodo. “He’s a very special pony, and I could see right away that he would need a lot of time and patience to become comfortable with humans.”
Paulina, a 27-year-old horse trainer, explains that when Alvin appeared in her life, he made her change the way she viewed the world and her relationship with her horses.
Before Alvin, she used to do classical dressage training, which involves pressure and release. After meeting the grey Shetland pony that changed her life, she started working on clicker training with her horses more regularly and decided that this was a much more effective way to train them.
“Today, a little over 10 years after Alvin came into my life, I no longer train classical dressage. Instead I started doing liberty dressage and switched from using pressure and release to positive reinforcement and clicker training. And both me and my horses are happier than ever!” she writes in her blog.
When Alvin entered their life — Paulina lives with her husband, their cats, dogs, horses, and pet sheep — the young woman had already started experimenting with clicker training. Seeing Alvin reacting positively to it, she figured it would be a good idea to train him that way.
Since then, they have built an unbelievably strong bond, and they have come to be best buddies.
“Without clicker training I don’t think that we would have the bond that we have today,” she admits.
This training method has been their way of connecting with each other over the years, especially since Alvin is not a horse that likes cuddles.
The pony loves treats, and he’ll practically get treats for anything he does, but as Paulina explains, he always goes for the most impressive tricks.
And the funniest thing of all is that he always tries to be in the frame whenever his owner takes out the camera.
Because he is the tiniest of Paulina’s horses, he wants to draw her attention, so he’ll do anything to achieve it. He’ll go past the camera on his hind legs, or he’ll stand on a rock. Just whatever it takes to be the center of attention.
Paulina loves him and she’s grateful for their relationship.
View this post on Instagram
Watch the woman talk about Alvin in the video below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
