It was Nationwide Horse Day within the UK on December 13 and to mark the event, equestrian attire model and equine insurer Harry Corridor went on the hunt for the oldest pony within the land. That honour went to Roana, a roan mare now 45 years younger.
In a video posted to the Belfast Telegraph’s Instagram account, Roana’s proprietor Cerys Brown tells the reporter that the key is sweet genetics, good joints and excellent care. And regardless of accidents through the years, a bout of strangles, and the lack of muscle tone and some enamel, the mare appears remarkably youthful than her 45 years.
“Horses live longer attributable to developments in diet and drugs,” agrees Harry Corridor’s managing director Liz Hopper. “We’re witnessing them surpassing expectations of the typical age, which is round twenty-five.”
Brown additionally spoke to Horse and Hound about her pony, telling the journal that Roana is “every thing” to her and that remarkably she has owned the horse for 30 years. “I understand how fortunate I’m to nonetheless have her,” she advised H&H. “Many individuals are fortunate to have ten to fifteen years, not to mention thirty. On daily basis I see her wee head over the steady door is a bonus.”
Based on Brown, she was seven when she first met Roana, a 13-hand combined breed mare, at her driving college in Eire. Nevertheless it wasn’t love at first sight for Brown; in actual fact, she wasn’t positive concerning the pony in any respect. “She was onerous to get going, didn’t actually like all of the trotting spherical behind the others; she was happier doing her personal factor – as she nonetheless is now!” That modified as soon as Brown and Roana started to work over fences. “She fairly appreciated leaping. We discovered widespread floor and began to get pleasure from one another’s firm.”
When the driving college closed and put all its horses available on the market, Brown wound up being the little roan pony’s proprietor. “My granny stepped in and purchased her for me,” Brown defined. “I used to be too previous by then to compete within the courses we’d been doing, however I didn’t need her to go to a different driving college as she wasn’t a fan of driving faculties or youngsters. She appreciated me as a result of I all the time had treats in my pocket.”
The horse rapidly turned one of many household. Brown was recognized with Crohn’s illness when she was 18, and Roana helped her by that analysis and subsequently each life change, together with being a part of the marriage social gathering when Brown bought married.
“We’ve got a special degree of bond, I do know her inside out,” she tells H&H. “I understand how she is feeling simply by her. Everybody ought to know her story as she has been such an incredible companion and has had an unimaginable affect on my life.”
