Glimpses of the animal-lover inside MS Dhoni often pop up on his Instagram handle. Even his wife Sakshi indulges with their lovely family of pets, while daughter Ziva is also walking into their footsteps. The former Indian skipper was most recently seen racing with a Shetland pony, in a video shared by Sakshi.

Dhoni was initially seen pushing the horse to stride faster, but he eventually couldn’t beat the pacier creature in this playful contest. The pony is said to belong to Ziva. Previously, her mother had also shared a video of it enjoying time with its canine friends.

This video is reportedly from the Dhoni family’s seven-acre Ranchi farmhouse, which had also welcomed a new black stallion called Chetak in May, earlier this year. Fans wondered if this was inspired by former Indian teammate Ravindra Jadeja’s passion for horses.

Sakshi had shared a few images of Chetak from the farmhouse. In an adorable video, one of their dogs was also seen getting along well with the horse.

The pack of dogs, which are an integral part of the Dhoni household, includes a couple of Belgian Malinois, two White Huskies and a Dutch Shepherd. And no surprises for guessing, they love to play catch (pun unintended).

Dhoni had moved in to the farmhouse, in the outskirts of Ranchi, in 2017. It was christened Kailashpati.

Construction of the seven-acre property lasted around three years and is purportedly his biggest house. He spends most of his free time on this property these days, chilling with his pets, wife and daughter.

He continues to enjoy his time indoors presently, with the Indian Premier League suspended due to the second wave of the pandemic. The tournament is set to resume in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ‘in the months of September-October’.

Before the postponement, Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings were among the best-performing teams this season. CSK bounced back strongly from an underwhelming 2020 season, where they had failed to qualify for the play-offs.

The three-time winners were buoyed by impressive performances from English all-rounders Moeen Ali and Sam Curran, winning five out their seven matches. They will hope to carry the same form into the second leg of the tournament; although many international players are expected to be absent because of busy international schedules.

Images: Instagram/Sakshi Dhoni, MS Dhoni