A cheeky Welsh pony named Sir Lucas nearly doubled his value with a fateful swallow last weekend.

His owner, Marie Studd of M&M Show Stables Inc. in Wellington, Fla., was petting the small pony when he nudged her hand and then gently grabbed her finger. It happened to be her ring finger, on which she was wearing her diamond wedding ring.

“I started pulling back, and he started pulling back too,” said Studd. “He was in the stall, and I was on the other side of the door, and for a second there I thought he was going to rip my finger apart. But then the diamond came off the casing, so he had it in his mouth!”

Studd jumped into action, quickly opening the pony’s mouth. Though she spotted the diamond inside, she couldn’t snatch it in time.

“He was worried because he didn’t understand what we were doing to him, so I had the vet come out to open his mouth completely so we could find it,” said Studd, who thought Lucas might have it wedged in his teeth. When their search failed to turn up the precious stone, they surmised he must have swallowed it.

“I couldn’t believe it! I was like, ‘This is not happening.’ And I thought, ‘My husband’s going to have an absolute fit!’ ” said Studd. However, when her husband, Paul Studd, came to the barn and saw the commotion surrounding Lucas, he managed to see the humor in the situation.

“Honestly, I said, ‘Well, it’s time you had a bigger one anyway!’ ” said Paul. He bought Marie a new heart-shaped diamond from Karina Brez Jewelry at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.) just in time for Valentine’s Day. “It worked out well, actually; it killed two birds with one stone.”

Even though she hopes having her diamond swallowed by a pony was a once in a lifetime occurrence, Marie says she’ll get this new one insured.

As for Lucas, the little bay will remain a project of Marie’s.

“I’ve thought about changing his name to something related to diamonds,” she joked. Originally purchased for her 12-year-old daughter, who outgrew him before she could show him, Lucas will start in the small green pony hunters and will be for sale soon.

“For two days I was going through manure for the fun of it to see if maybe the diamond would come out. But we didn’t find it,” said Marie. “Someone might buy him and, if the diamond is still in there, get more than just the pony!”