OUR HORSES

Bobby

Bobby is a Welsh Section D, approx. 14.2hh, who was born in 1996 and arrived here in June 2018. Bobby had been a very successful cross-country and showjumping pony who was known fondly as “four-faults” because of his ability to frequently drop the pole of the last jump in his showjumping career! At cross-country he was very forward going and would not stop until the finish, obviously not a novice ride. Bobby’s owner had married and left home and Bobby lived with her parents who eventually decided to down-size which meant losing their field. Again, because of the uncertainty of selling horses who could well end up who knows where, they did not want to sell Bobby who had been such a good pony to them, so we were asked to take him. He is retired from riding now and is beginning to show his age a little bit, taking a step back from herd politics! Bobby is very fond of the lady horses, especially Gracie who is usually by his side.

Coco

Coco is a grey Welsh pony who was born in 2004 and came to Mossburn in 2007 along with many animals rescued from neglect and abuse. Despite this, Coco has always been a lovely pony and has gone to several loan homes in her time with us. Coco is now a permanent resident here and is retired from riding as she sustained a field injury in 2022. Following a trip to Clyde equine hospital for X-rays, nothing specific could be identified and it was a case of time and rest along with pain medication when necessary. As long as Coco is field sound and comfortable then she can now live out her days with her friends Mitzee and Keisha.

Cosmo

Cosmo is an especially small miniature Shetland pony who was born in 2014 and arrived here in February 2019. Cosmo shared a field with another pony until their owner lost the grazing and attempted to keep them both by putting them in a shared stable until new grazing was found. However, this took longer than thought and the bigger pony consistently picked on little Cosmo, making his life miserable and we were asked to take him in. He may be small but he has a big personality and can be very cheeky. Nina (our other miniature Shetland) loves him to bits and is rarely far from his side. Cosmo is also very stubborn and can be difficult to handle if he is not getting to do things his way!

Gypsy

Gypsy is a lovely cob mare somewhere in her mid thirties! She came to us in November 2016 as her owner, who has had her for many years, found it increasingly difficult to make the journey to visit her beloved horse and appealed to us to take her in. We took her on as another valuable member of our Animal Assisted Therapy team as she is a friendly and human oriented mare. Gypsy is now mostly retired and is no longer ridden due to age related health issues so she spends her days taking life easy in the field with her current companions Whiskey and Rupert.

Jack

Jack arrived at Mossburn along with his companion King in October 2022. They came to us as a result of their owner's ill health rendering him unable to continue looking after them. They are both pure bred American Quarter Horses and are rather beautiful. Jack is 18 years old and is a friendly but quirky horse who can be difficult to manage behaviour wise as he is unpredictable and easily startled and upset by changes to his routine, etc. Jack is incredibly attached to King and they must both be in sight of each other at all times!

Jazz

Jazz is a 15.3hh pre-bred American Quarter Horse whose full name is Serun Jazzy Jack. He was born in 2013, bought, broken and ridden by a lady in Warwickshire who came up to Scotland to live with her sister but whose ill-health has precluded her from keeping Jazz. The lady who took this lovely photograph of him has a friend in Warwickshire who knew that Jazz needed to look for a new home, his owner being bery anxious not to have to sell him as once sold you have no say what happens to a horse in the future. It so happens that Juanita has a passion for American Quarter Horses and could not resist offering him a home. Jazz has really good riding manners, is a sweet natured boy and has fitted in well with the other horses here, also participating in our Equine Assisted Learning therapy sessions.

King

King arrived at Mossburn in October 2022 along with his companion Jack. He is a 17 year old American Quarter Horse and is very handsome. King is a laid back horse who loves attention and he likes to know everything that is going on around the farm.

Nina

Nina arrived here in December 2017 as a seven year old piebald miniature Shetland. She was bred near here and when her owner died she left Nina to somebody in her will. At that time Nina had three companions and on her owner’s death these three were rehomed which left Nina on her own while the terms of the will were worked out. It transpired that the lady Nina had been left to did not want her and the husband of the deceased was not in a position health wise to look after Nina. We collected her from the village where she lived with some amusement as she is really tiny! Nina had not been handled very much and tended to drag us around but her manners improved the more accustomed she got to the routines on this yard – she can still pull like a little train when going on walks though! She is a very attractive, friendly character who likes to get her nose into everybody else’s business!

Rupert

Rupert is a piebald gelding who was born in June 2019 and arrived at Mossburn in January 2022 along with his best friend Whiskey. On arrival, Rupert was underweight with a matted coat and in need of a farrier and some worming treatment. He was extremely nervous and it took months of gentle handling and a consistent routine to bring him around. You would never know now though as Rupert has become an extremely friendly and inquisitive young pony - he is most definitely a character and quite michievous. Although he is still unsure of new situations, Rupert takes a lot of confidence from his friend Whiskey, they are very bonded and never far away from each other.

Snickers

Snickers, Toby & Whisper all arrived at Mossburn in July 2023. They were all born in 1997 and had the same home for almost all of their lives. They were very much loved but due to ill health of their owners they had not been receiving proper care and we were asked to take them in. Snickers was slightly underweight and our equine dentist discovered quite a mess inside his mouth as all three ponies were well overdue a dentist visit. Snickers' mouth should be a lot more comfortable now although he is not able to chew hay very well so these three ponies are fed haylage instead. Snickers is a friendly boy and is very pretty with his flaxen mane and tail.

Toby

Snickers, Toby & Whisper all arrived at Mossburn in July 2023. They were all born in 1997 and had the same home for almost all of their lives. They were very much loved but due to ill health of their owners they had not been receiving proper care and we were asked to take them in. Toby was in the worst condition out of the three and needed a lot of care to get him back to health however he is now doing great. Toby has Cushings Disease and had not been receiving his medication for this resulting in significant weight loss and he was also anaemic with a lice burden. Once we got Toby on the correct medication dose and ensured he had plenty of feed he readily put on weight and he looks so much better now. He is a friendly pony but is much more interested in food and his equine friends!

Whiskey

Whiskey is an elderly horse who we first took on in 2019 after his owner passed away. Despite his size, he is an extremely gentle and loving horse who enjoys as much human attention as he can get. Unfortunately Whiskey was returned to us from his loan home underweight and in poor condition. He is now back to full health and is enjoying his days of retirement in the field, along with his little friend Rupert and their field mate Gypsy.

Whisper

Snickers, Toby & Whisper all arrived at Mossburn in July 2023. They were all born in 1997 and had the same home for almost all of their lives. They were very much loved but due to ill health of their owners they had not been receiving proper care and we were asked to take them in. Whisper is a lovely looking jet black pony who is quite striking. He can be a bit nervous of new people but is beginning to settle in well here. He was in the best health out of the three and mainly needed to be wormed and have his teeth done which were in quite bad condition. These three ponies will receive 6-monthly visits from the equine dentist, rather than the usual 12-monthly, to try to keep their mouths as comfortable as possible.