Rest In Peace, Piglet

Dear All,

My heart is utterly broken. We have had to say our final goodbyes to Piglet, the Terror of the Chilterns, himself. Early one morning he developed an extremely severe colic and it was clear very quickly that we had to stop his pain. We have no idea how old he actually was, but we are confident he was in well into his 30’s.

His loss is so personal to me that I felt I should be the one to tell you all. Pig was my very first rescue after joining The Horse Trust in 2010. I had been asked by the Trustees not to admit anymore horses until we had finished a new strategy. Then we got a phone call, only 29 days into the job, from a police officer who was standing with an obviously abandoned Shetland pony with a very nasty looking eye infection. It was a wet Friday afternoon/ evening and my heart went out to someone trying his best to do the right thing and not finding any help. I thought, it’s only a wee Shetland, he won’t cost much to keep, nobody will notice…..

We went and fetched him and within weeks he was in hospital as he required two surgeries, one to remove his eye and one to remove an abdominal testicle. He nearly died on the operating table and by now had already cost a small fortune!

Also during this time Pig fell in love….. a love that was to last to the end….. that love was fellow skewbald rescue Shetland, Rosie. Soon he’d forgotten all other females and gave his full attention to our dear Rosie. They became inseparable, except in bad weather when Piglet would never share a field shelter with anyone! They remained devoted companions until Rosie passed.

Throughout all of his nearly 15 years here with us he always trotted up to me when I called his name, always gave me cuddles and kisses and was the biggest character in a tiny package it’s ever been our privilege to love and care for.

The day he passed it was all so urgent, I didn’t get to him in time to be with him and to talk to him as he went. He was surrounded by love, but I felt I had let him down. Only a couple of minutes afterwards he was lying warm and peacefully in one of our hospital barns, with a hint of a cheeky smile on his face. He looked like he was sleeping. I kissed him and stroked his nose and said how sorry I was not to have been with him. Writing this now and the tears are flowing. Pig and I have shared the story of the last 15 years of The Horse Trust together and it feels like part of us has gone with him, certainly part of me.

As Piglet, the pirate Shetland left us, so young Frank the mule arrived. Also, in desperate need of surgery and a secure future. We have so many more facilities and expertise here now than we had 15 years ago and that is all thanks to the unwavering and growing support you give to our charity. I have one thing to ask. He wasn’t fancy, to put it mildly, so we will keep it simple. We’ll plant a special tree for him, probably near a field shelter! The ask is that if you possibly can, and you would like to remember Piglet and the joy he brought to so many people for so many years, might you give a gift to the emergency appeal for young Frank? So that Pig, my first rescue’s legacy, helps my/our latest one?

Piglet you are utterly irreplaceable, you represented such a significant time period in The Horse Trust’s story and you were a lead role in that story. I miss seeing you every day, I miss your happy trot and your frankly rude shelter behaviour. I miss everything about you and I hope I was in time enough that you got to take my kisses with you on your journey to meet your beloved Rosie once more.

Jxxxxxx