His gaze seems sad. At least to me. Yet when I put my arms round him, he shakes me off. We compromise, and I’m allowed to stroke Baloo’s muzzle while he decides to see if my straw-like hair tastes like the real thing.

I’m head-to-head with a horse at Nihi Sumba, one of the world’s most beautiful wilderness hotels, on a remote Indonesian island an hour’s flight from Bali. Yet I’m not here to ride Baloo, the small black Sumbanese pony before me ­– he is my therapy partner.