A LITTLE magic sparkled at a play session for children with special needs, as a therapy pony made his first reappearance at work after the ordeal of being stolen.

Now aged 18 months, Magic the miniature pony was stolen from a paddock near his home at the Calico Stud farm in Longham on March 22 and was missing for 10 days.

Following a public appeal, he was spotted at a travellers camp and reunited with his real home thanks to an identity microchip.

Owner Jodie Holland said it was good to see him again interacting with the children at Coping with Chaos in West Moors, with the support of his horse friends around him.

He also visits places like Julia’s House hospice and appears in pantomime.

“In the time he was gone, although it was a very short time, it did a lot of damage both physically and mentally to him.

“Mentally it took a lot longer to get over the stress of it all, to build his confidence.

“He was very skittish, very funny especially with kids around him. A lot of the children we work with like to cuddle the ponies.

“One of the easiest places is across the back. He was quite frightened of that.

“We could not get him to go into the trailer. In general his confidence with people was very knocked. He was not very happy to leave his field. He was after a lot of reassurance from people and his horsey friends.”

Jodie said Magic now seems much happier.

She said the children loved the miniature horses as they were not as intimidating in size.