A GERMAN student who went on a trek from Spain to Dundee with her pony by her side made a pit stop in East Lothian – much to the excitement of local residents.

Johanna Maria, 22, an agriculture student from Halle, was travelling to The James Hutton Institute in Invergowrie, near Dundee, to research barley breeding for six months as part of her dissertation and an Erasmus placement.

However, she could not afford the £2,000 flight costs to bring her 14-year-old Shetland pony Hechizo – whose name means ‘magic’ in Spanish – to Scotland and could not bear to be away from him for a year.

So she set out on February 28, with Hechizo – who Johanna has had for four years and bought for her 18th birthday – pulling all of her belongings behind him on a cart.

Johanna’s father drove her to Spain for a work placement on a farm in Segovia, near Madrid, arriving just before lockdown and leaving on June 10 for the French border.

Her dad drove the pair through France and across the Channel, where they then set off from East Sussex on August 1 with no local contacts bar her professor in Dundee.

Hechizo had special shoes on his hooves to ensure they are up for the journey.

She arrived in Scotland on September 7, trekking through the Scottish Borders. On September 9, they walked 18 kilometres from Cranshaws to Carfrae, near Garvald.

The next day, she completed a 24.9-kilometre journey from Carfrae to Ormiston, passing through Gifford, East Saltoun and Pencaitland.

Residents of Ormiston welcomed Johanna and Hechizo with open arms, with one man offering to give the pair a lift the rest of the way, an offer she was grateful for but politely declined, as completing the distance on foot was all part of her journey.

Others gave her food and cups of tea, and Johanna said she was “overwhelmed” by everyone’s kindness in the village.

The pony did not miss out, though, and was given plenty of grass, apples and carrots.

After a one-night stay, Johanna embarked on a 31.3-kilometre journey from Ormiston to Eastside Farm, near Penicuik, then going on through Midlothian, West Lothian and Fife.

Throughout her journey, Johanna and Hechizo stayed with strangers and camped in churchyards, parks and farms, with some people offering to pay for her to stay in a B&B.

Johanna and her pony completed the rest of their journey and, after about 90 days and 1,500 miles, arrived at their destination last Friday. They are based in Longforgan, west of Dundee, saying it “already feels like home”.