George the Shetland dies aged 43 in the UK

After many years at Battersea Children’s zoo, George came to us with Briar the donkey back in 2004. In those early days they had a few adventures as they were both great escape artists! They have also both hung out in the office, the private gardens here and generally been living like the King and Queen of The Horse Trust, quite rightly of course!

George, that very rare kind of Shetland pony who never gets chubby, has become an institution over the years. His original name was Boy George but frankly he reached an age where that name really wasn’t working! He became Uncle George in 2012 when six week old Teddy arrived with us having been abandoned on a roadside. Once Teddy had recovered from his ordeal, George was chosen as the perfect Godfather to the little foal as his nature was extremely gentle yet he would still keep the youngster in line when necessary. George did an amazing job helping us to care for the Tedster and at the same time he became the equine ‘spokespony’ for common sense in a crazy world! George would quite often give everyone on Facebook a jolly good talking to be it about tinsel in stables, to rug or not to rug or how to help stop the spread of infectious disease. He became famous in the horsey world for his sage advice whilst closer to home he has always been a firm favourite with visitors.

Reaching the age of 43 is no mean feat and of course came with some clinical issues he needed support with. He had Cushing’s, arthritis, cataracts and most recently appeared to have developed irritable bowel syndrome. All of these issues were lovingly managed by the team here to ensure George was happy and even when his sight deteriorated, he had the run of his little paddock where he knew where every bump and fence was; so much so he was happily running around in there right until the end. George was always happy to be apart from the other ponies, it was just his thing!

We knew that at his age we were on borrowed time with him but whilst he was happy and not in pain, George carried on enjoying his life here. Unfortunately, George suddenly collapsed a couple of weeks ago in the stable. The cause was slightly unclear at the time and he got himself up and was munching away (or rather slurping as a lack of teeth meant soup was the order of the day) very happily shortly afterwards. When he was examined, he was showing signs that suggested the problem might possibly be in his neck or brain, so at that point the decision was made to watch him extremely closely and to act should this reoccur.

Sadly a couple of weeks later George collapsed in his paddock and appeared to have a seizure like episode (he wouldn’t have known anything about it except when he woke up and was on the floor), he recovered and got back up although was very disorientated (not helped by his poor vision). It was then almost certain that these episodes would become longer and more frequent with a poorer recovery. It was time. A goodbye we had all been dreading for so long. So many years we were worried that with his advancing years he may not winter well and then he would utterly confound us with his determination. He had a truly amazing life and also contributed so much to the welfare of other ponies along the way.

We miss him like you can’t imagine, the funny faces he pulled, his very fancy trot and his extremely loving nature. Knowing when to say goodbye is the greatest gift we can give our animals and after 43 extraordinary years, we have now had to say one of the saddest goodbyes of all.

Night night Uncle George, you were an utter legend and it’s been our privilege to have you with us all of these years. Keep an eye out on that rascal Teddy from up there and carry on being the King you truly are. All our love goes with you.

PLEA FOR HELP We would really love to have our superstar Uncle George individually cremated and brought home to us, so we can install a memorial where colleagues and supporters can pay their respects. Please if you can, donate in memory of Uncle George https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/unclegeorge