Ruby is a beautiful lady who we refer to as “posh”, she now knows who she is, what she likes and what she doesn’t. Sadly, this was not the case when we first rescued her. Ruby came from a competition yard where her life consisted of either being in a stable, being exercised on a horse-walker, travelling on a lorry to competitions or competing. When she arrived at the sanctuary and we popped her in a field she was frightened of the horses in the field next door. She didn’t want to explore the field, run or play and she didn’t realise that she could eat the grass. We had not observed this behaviour in any of our rescued horses before. We knew we had to treat her very gently and teach her how to be a horse. Who better for the job than our elderly 30-year-old gentle pony called Cottie? We introduced Cottie to Ruby and magically Cottie took on the role of Ruby’s grandmother and started teaching her that the grass was for eating, the field was a safe place, the horses next door could be approached without fear and that us humans were kind. Years later even though Cottie has now transitioned over Rainbow Bridge her teachings live on as Ruby is a very happy, confident lady who now manages Illyanne’s herd with her and they are the best of friends.