From unwanted yearling to dressage championship star: the story of Scruffy, the pony who keeps on giving

She wasn’t bought with a plan. In fact, she wasn’t even bought at all. Dyffryncothi Bridget – or Scruffy, as she’s known at home – came into Bridget Tate’s life as a bad livery debt.

“They did a midnight split and left her with us,” recalls Bridget. “We didn’t know what to do with her.”

Sixteen years on, the 14.1hh chestnut mare has become something extraordinary: a multi-time competitor at the Winter Dressage Championships, a beloved schoolmistress, and a pony who’s quietly brought riders – and lifelong friendships – together.

Still going strong, Scruffy recently finished sixth in the prelim bronze under-21 class at the Petplan Winter Area Festival Championships, with her current young rider, Isabel Callow. She’s now competed at eight winter championships with four different riders – and she’s still not done.

Behind the scores and rosettes is a story about what equestrian sport can do at its best: shape people, connect them, and show that sometimes the ponies that cost nothing end up meaning everything.

“At first, Scruffy went to my aunt’s as a companion for a youngster,” says Bridget. “But when she was four, my aunt said, ‘I just want £500 for her and a good home.’”

Bridget, then 14, decided to produce Scruffy for Pony Club, knowing a low price alone wouldn’t secure her future. She didn’t know then what she had. Her first test, she recalls, was chaos.

“I could barely canter a 20-metre circle. My mum was calling the test, started laughing – then I started laughing. We lost it completely.”

Scruffy had plenty of spirit. “In the early days, she’d buck her way through the warm-up. She can still do a serious buck. I remember Annabelle Wesley even fell off before her first competition, then went in and won it! And if Scruffy sees grass, she’ll still try to drag you off.”

But Bridget kept showing up. “We competed, competed, competed – and eventually, something clicked. Within two years, somehow, she was going FEI.”

Just as things were taking off, Bridget aged out of pony classes. Scruffy was sold – but years later, she came full circle, gifted back to Bridget. Since then, she’s helped rider after rider reach the Winter Championships.

“Now she’s the ultimate schoolmistress,” says Bridget. “She’s introduced me to so many people. We have a photo of her with 15 people around her after she won the prelim bronze title with Annabelle in 2023 – this tiny pony, in the middle of all the riders and friends she’s helped.”

Bridget hopes to breed a foal from her one day – “if I can ever get her back from all the kids who keep borrowing her!”

Bridget now has a new goal: to turn Scruffy’s story into a children’s book. “I’m drafting it on my old school laptop that barely works, but I want to get it down. I think it could be a heartwarming message – the free pony that’s been worth so much to so many people.”

“I want to tell people that you don’t need a top-end, expensive pony. She’s beaten international-level ponies. You put her on a half-pass line and she’ll ask, ‘How long do you want me to go for?’”

“She’s taught me so much, and I think, if the way of going is right, any horse can get there. Just give it a go and see how far you can get.”

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