This is the hilarious moment a 'cheeky' show pony went rogue and sprinted off to celebrate her first ever jump - leaving her pint-sized rider to desperately cling on before flinging the poor kid off. Katie Newland was 'dreading' taking Shetland pony Winnie to Tackley Horse Show in Oxfordshire, due to the 'carnage' that would ensue and the eight-year-old dramatically proved why in front of a stunned crowd.
Footage shows her pal's daughter Fifi Kelly acing a mini cross-rail jump, then on landing she's thrust forward towards Winnie's neck - but instead of stopping the pony bolts. The eight-year-old kid can be seen clinging on for dear life as she tries to lean back and slow Winnie down, yet when the 'excited' pony does finally stop she shrugs Fifi off - though the youngster is thankfully unhurt.
Winnie sees the chance to flee and leaves Fifi chasing after her as mum Georgia Smith, 27, can be heard in 'outrageously funny' fits of giggles at the comedy sketch-like scene. National-level dressage rider Katie, 22, recorded the side-splitting video and posted it to Facebook, where it's now been seen more than 200,000 times to thousands of users' delight.
Despite Winnie's 30-acre runaway antics ending in a nearby lorry park 10 minutes later, the mum insists she wasn't embarrassed by Winnie's stunt.
Katie, from Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, said: "She was probably excited she'd completed the jump, and then when Fifi landed on her neck she was thinking 'what's going on?' too. When she's with my daughter she doesn't put a foot wrong, but when Fifi's riding her she knows she can be a little bit more cheeky and they have some fun together.
"She's got a very big personality. With Fifi being so small she struggles to stay in the saddle. Winnie jumps it really nicely then after she jumps she falls onto her neck and loses her balance.
"She's trying to pull up, and when Winnie does stop she just falls off. I think she lets go of the pony, pulls out a wedgie then Winnie runs off. They're a crazy pair. Winnie just decided to run for freedom. She ran around 30 acres until we caught her running around a lorry park.
"Georgia hid behind a lorry and grabbed her reins and she skidded to a stop. We only filmed it because we wanted to record her jumping. It was her first jump and the last time she tried it she stopped before it.
"We were dreading [the day]. Taking Winnie, Fifi, and my baby and it was a really early start. It was carnage the whole day. Winnie's clever, but she hadn't done a lot before we got her so she's quite a free spirit. Before it happened they were already famous because Fifi had been going round and making lots of friends, so when it happened everyone knew it was Winnie that was loose. We just found it funny."
Katie, who owns an equestrian transport and training business, bought Winne as a Christmas present for her nine-month-old daughter Isabella Alford and Fifi is helping train her. She says the young rider wasn't hurt and immediately found the clip funny too, but she adds viral fame has 'gone to her head' as she's grown tired of being shown it.
