A woman in Scotland, who is considered eccentric by her neighbors has moved her horse into the living room of her semi-detached home after her arrangements for stable space near her home fell through.
Stephanie Noble shares her home with three-year-old filly Grey Lady Too after a series of disputes with locals near Stornoway on Lewis although the horse and all its paraphernalia take up most of the space, leaving only one habitable room for 65-year-old Stephanie.
“The council has told me that there is no problem with me having the pony living with me but it is not ideal.”
Stephanie moved to the Hebridean island nine years ago. She had previously ran equestrian businesses in Ireland, Europe and the US.In September last year, she decided to follow her dream and buy a Connemara pony, similar to the first one she was given as a 13-year-old schoolgirl.
After thinking she had found space for the horse on communal land near her home, the owner came forward, took the pony back to Stephanie’s home on Christmas Eve and tethered the animal to her wooden porch.
Stephanie said: “I was faced with the choice of leaving her out in the cold or bringing her indoors and I chose to bring her in.”
Over the past few weeks, she has used furniture to create walls within her front room and built a stable door.
Stephanie has also spent hundreds of pounds on rubber mats to place hay and straw for bedding and bought 60 litres of cat litter to deal with the pony’s bodily functions.
She hopes eventually to build a stable next to her home but needs at least £1000 to get it up and running.
A spokesman for Western Isles Council said Stephanie was free to do as she pleased on her own property as long as no issues of public safety or hygiene arose. He added: “We don’t encourage people to keep horses in their homes.”