Comedian John Bishop and his wife Melanie have rehomed four horses from equine charity World Horse Welfare.
Dora, Amara, Indie and Mable were in the care of the charity’s Penny Farm Rescue and Rehoming Centre.
The horses have now settled in to their new home with Melanie and John in the north of England.
“Melanie and I share a love of animals of all shapes and sizes and foster the belief that there are so many animals who have been neglected or abused that rehoming is the only logical option,” said John.
“Growing up I never thought I would have a field full of horses, but owning them isn’t rocket science – you just need a bit of common sense and a good sense of humour.
“They’re strong-willed, unpredictable and impulsive, so it’s a lot like bringing up children.”
All four horses were rescued from dire conditions.
Five-year-old bay warmblood mare Amara arrived at Penny Farm with four other horses and was incredibly underweight with very bad rain scald.
Indie, a 17-year-old piebald cob mare, had very bad sunburn on her nose and upper hind legs when she was rescued, as well as wounds on her legs. Her feet were also very overgrown.
Mable was very underweight when she arrived at the rescue centre and was suffering from strangles, and Dora was found chained to a fence with no access to food or water.
“The plan wasn’t originally to have four, but the little herd we rehomed now feel they like they belong together,” said Melanie, who has been a horse-lover all her life.
“Rehoming through World Horse Welfare was so easy – the team at Penny Farm have been flexible and helped us every step of the way.”
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The horses join John and Melanie’s menagerie of rescued pets, including English bull terriers, Bilko and Tigger, and pot-bellied pig, Milo.
“Melanie and John have approached the whole experience with a very open mind and a great sense of humour which means four of our once-abused horses have a wonderful future ahead of them,” added World Horse Welfare deputy chief executive Tony Tyler.
September 2015 is the charity’s annual Rehome a Horse month.
To mark the occasion, World Horse Welfare has launched a new rehoming website and is celebrating past rehomers and their horses.
For more information visit: http://rehoming.worldhorsewelfare.org/
