Political power grab? Mayor Patrick’s pub ban continues to attract international attention as German magazine suggests behind-the-scenes shenanigans
STAR OF THE SHOW: International headline-making pony Patrick is now preparing to meet a German TV film crew.
Patrick, a miniature Shetland Pony and friend of The War Horse Memorial, is used to making national headlines in Britian and internationally, too. After all, he is elected mayor of Devon village Cockington, near Torquay. Guiness-drinking Patrick, a much-loved therapy pony, enjoys relaxing with regulars at his local pub, the The Drum Inn. Or he did, that is, before being banned.
After being told “You’re barred” the news spread around the world and caught the latest attention of renowned German news magazine Stern whose investigative reporter suggests that local political intrigue may be the real reason behind Patrick’s expulsion. A controversial decision which made front page headlines here in the UK.
Now the German equivalent of the BBC’s One Show is preparing to dispatch a film crew to Cockington to follow up the story. “They are going to spend a whole day filming,” says Kirk Petrakis who along with wife, Hannah, are ambassadors for The War Horse Memorial and share their home with the pony. “Apparently Patrick is a big star in Germany.”
This is how Patrick was reported in Stern (original translation).
If the mayor makes his rounds, you can hear his hoof rattling from afar – because at the top of the English village of Cockington is a Shetland pony. But not everyone likes that.
In a red robe, a golden chain with a village order around his neck and in flashing boots, Patrick trots through the park in Cockington, England. A walker takes off his hat while walking by and greets: “How is the mayor today? May he live long!" He seems unimpressed and doesn't say a word. Which is not unusual because Patrick is a horse. For about half a year, the Shetland Pony has been allowed to call itself mayor of the village of Cockington in the English county of Devon.
"Someone said Patrick should be mayor," recall Kirk and Hannah Petrakis, who had a horse and carriage business in the village for a long time and where the pony is at home. Patrick – named after his birthday on Saint Patrick's Day – was already a celebrity in the village pub 'The Drum Inn’. In a small enclosure in the garden, he received children, people with disabilities and all those who longed for company.
In a fundraiser the idea for his office was born. 220 supporters signed a petition, followed by a solemn ceremony with blessing, during which even the local deputy could be seen. The former mayor of Cockington had died a few years earlier, since then the post has been vacant.
“People are fed with politics. A member of parliament only passes by briefly, can be photographed and then moves on. When Patrick comes, joy is everywhere. No political games.”
Life has changed quite a bit for Petrakis since then. "Did we expect all the attention? That Patrick ends up in the Washington Post? No, definitely not." Patrick can hardly walk a few meters without people stopping and marvelling at the pony with his fuzzy mane. Anyone who is native to Cockington and the surrounding area knows who he has in front of him.
"We are currently working on a project, on a virtual city tour in which Patrick appears," says Nicola Shinner, who crosses Patrick's path with two friends in the village square. The three take a tourism course at South Devon College. "But we didn't know he was here today."
Hannah Petrakis is also constantly in the process of putting her pony in the limelight. More than 22,000 followers follow his political career on Facebook, a good 800 on Instagram. Many tourists, even from America and Australia, would ask for Patrick if they were guests with scones and tea, says Gordon, who runs the Weavers Cottage in the heart of Cockington.
But like all representatives on the political stage, Patrick does not only have fans. Only a few weeks after taking office, he had to vacate his official seat in the Drum Inn. His enclosure did not have the necessary structural approval and someone filed an official complaint.
"Everywhere you have narrow-minded people who just can't get out of their skin," says Kirk Petrakis. "What's crazy, because who wouldn't like to have a Shetland pony as mayor? Patrick appears at openings and bites through tapes. It is not the case that he sits in the town hall and makes decisions."
Even half a year after taking office, the pub is still a restricted area for Patrick. The operators do not want to comment on the pony on request and refer to the decision of the district. Hannah Petrakis senses other motives behind the headwind. A man who does not live in Cockington at all has ambitions for Patrick's office himself, the British suspect.
After his exile from the pub, Patrick travels a lot in the area in addition to regular visits to Cockington. In the Rowcroft hospice, a few kilometers away, terminally ill people can caress his fuzzy mane and be cheered up. “You can see how they relax,” says Kirk Petrakis. Pony therapy should even help against high blood pressure, anxiety and depression.
While one or the other villager is more likely to smile at Patrick's office or greet him as a welcome tourist magnet, Kirk and Hannah Petrakis are firmly convinced that he is also made for the office in terms of content. "People are fed with politics. A member of parliament only passes by briefly, can be photographed and then moves on. When Patrick comes, joy is everywhere. No political games."
Patrick should still have political ambitions: "World peace," says Kirk Petrakis. "We put you in a room with Putin and all the other powerful, and you regulate that," he says to his animal representative. Weavers Cottage operator Gordon even hopes for a "prank of genius" of the pony, with which it reverses Brexit. Patrick himself does not disturb these expectations.
At his mobile, light blue ‘Patrick's Bar’ he munches a carrot after his village walk and takes a deep sip of Guinness – in moderation this is healthy for ponies, his owners are convinced.