A pony from Kehelland near Camborne has been hailed as the oldest in the world at the grand age of 51.

Alison Eathorne, 38, said that she took Scribbles home when he was retired due to old age from a riding school in 2002.

Scribbles worked at Strawberry Gardens Riding School in Camborne for 24 years after owner Jill Power paid £125 for him in 1978, as an already “long in the tooth” 20 year old.

Mrs Eathorne said that while he was elderly already when they got him he was “still a real character, even if he is slowing down”.

She added: “He gets sore feet and it takes him an age to eat a meal because he has lost half his teeth. But he is still hanging on there and we love him to bits.”

“The vet is always amazed at how fit and healthy Scribbles is. He is not on any medication at all.”

Scribbles has reached amazing milestone thanks to a healthy diet including vitamins, cod liver oil, and a mix of food specially designed for ageing horses.

The Guinness Book Of Records lists the oldest pony in the world as Sugar Puff, a Shetland –Exmoor pony who lived on a farm in West Sussex that died in 2007 at the age of 56.

Mrs Eathorne says that she is hoping to submit documents in a bid to have Scribbles declared the world’s oldest.