Rumour has it!

A young pony who was rescued when she was only two years old is showing just what can be achieved with the right partnership. Traditional gypsy cob Rumour came into our care following the rescue of a large group of horses and after a period of rehabilitation she was rehomed. 

Fast forward a few years and Rumour now fulfils a very important job as a Riding for the Disabled pony once a week. On top of that, together with her rehomer Dot, she was crowned Reserve Champion at her first two-day TREC GB competition. 

We caught up with Dot who told us more about Rumour’s story. 

I’d like to tell you a story about a little gypsy cob called Rumour. We live north of Aberdeen and have a few acres of land. For many years we’ve normally had three to four horses and ponies – some rescue, some oldies and others competitive. 

We found ourselves with a space for a companion pony to keep our other horses company. We contacted World Horse Welfare about a companion to rehome but there wasn’t a horse suitable, so they suggested a youngster, a four-year-old. We popped along to see Rumour (you can guess the rest!) and on first sight we knew we had to rehome this lovely gentle little pony. 

That was four years ago. Rumour has been a treasure, and we have progressed very slowly with in-hand work and backing and we found training for TREC very helpful with this. She has proven to be a very chilled and calm pony and is a star at our local Riding for the Disabled group. We are very happy with her. 

Meanwhile, I had qualified for the National TREC GB Championships in Dumfries on my competition horse Tia, together with my partner Anna and her horse Lola. We were all very excited, but Tia went lame so unfortunately, she couldn’t take part. I was really sad to let Anna and Lola down. Rumour had never taken part in a competition at this stage, but we decided to get her fitter and see if she would be able to stand in. 

August came and we washed Rumour and took her to Dumfries! She had never been in a trailer for more than an hour before and never been to a big competition. She travelled well and just walked out of the trailer and headed for the grass.  

TREC is a 2-day event, orienteering the first day and she was more than happy to ride alongside Lola. The 2nd day is a course of obstacles and a fast walk/slow canter corridor. There were lots of spectators and dogs along the course so she was rather surprised, but she enjoyed the trip round. We completed the course and, with Anna and Lola, we ended up Reserve Champions! What a superstar. We are very proud of her!” 

If you feel inspired to rehome a horse after hearing Rumour’s story, please visit our rehoming pages where you can see all of our horses and ponies who are ready to find a loving new home.