We are returning customers and had a necklace and bracket made around 3 years ago when we lost our coloured gelding Wig- Wam (Wiggy for short!) He was an of boy at 27 years and he was such a kind soul.
Sadly, we now face life without our beautiful horse Sir George, who we bought a few moths after loosing Wiggy.
Gee gee as we fondly called him, came into our lives unexpectedly after seeing an advert on Pre-loved. We didn’t know when we would be ready to get another horse after loosing Wiggy as he had been with us for 15 years, but we knew as soon as we met George, that he was a special horse.
He came to us in November 2020 and after his initial suspicions about us as owners, a trait of the Appaloosa, once we formed a bond, there was no going back.
Our journey took us to many places over the 3 and a half years, he was truly a horse in a million, turning his hoof to anything we asked. We formed an un-breakable bond through liberty work and he loved trick training. We spent many hours on ground work and in-hand walking, enjoying the world around us.
In the saddle after a year or two of lessons and schooling, we competed at low level dressage, winning our most recent class in April. We hacked and explored the world of pleasure rides, George always loving every moment and our most recent adventure was joining a barrel racing team!
He loved to fly around the course and it was a great sport for me as a rider, ultimately trusting my beautiful steed to carry me around the barrels in the fastest time!
We also competed in horse agility and George had such a quirky way of tackling a course, over tarpaulins, through streamer curtains, carrying flags and navigating scary objects ( which really weren’t scary for George if I was with him). He loved to test out obstacles by picking them up or in the most recent months, doing them on his own!
We recently just got our second horse Milo for my partner Rob, who helped so much with George too, but sadly a month later we hit tragedy.
We still cannot believe our Gee Gee is gone. Caused by the ignorance of a dog owner who didn’t see the need to keep their dog on a lead whilst camping near our stables.
The dog was spotted three times in the stable paddocks chasing some of the horses, the owner was asked to put it safely on a lead. We thought they had, but they must have released it again. Shortly after we heard a commotion in our bottom field where my beloved George was and the dog was still loose and now chasing him. He ran, as most horses would but ran too close to the paddock fence and skidded and rolled through, causing severe damage to his front offside tendons in his leg.
Our boy was referred to Pool House Horse hospital but his chances of surviving surgery were so slim, and then his long road to recovery was fraught with danger of infection and complications. He would never be the same horse, even if he did survive the odds, only possibly being a retired field horse.
We made the devastating call to say goodbye to our sweet, sweet boy. He loved life, to race the wind, to gallop and be active. A life in a field was not for him.
Even in the end, he trusted us and was so courageous and calm. We cant believe he was snatched away from us by ignorance and sheer disregard.
Our lives will always be better for having know Sir George but we can’t help but feel he has had many years stolen away. He truly was our horse in a million and life will never quite be the same without him.
Run free my wild Appaloosa boy, you carried me on the wind and raced through life as a true partner. You take a piece of our hearts with you.
Katie and Rob xx
