Toby – Irish Coloured Cob

Toby’s official name is Tobias Jug – it brings a smile to my face every time I think of it.

And Toby makes me smile a lot too, because he is such a good and reliable boy here at the trekking centre.

We seem to have a theme going of horses I have found through friends and Toby is another one.

I had already bought several horses – including Chase and Splash – from this particular friend, who has a very good eye for a nice horse.

She had moved to Loughborough when she contacted me to see if I would be interested in a great little straightforward 14.3hh coloured Cob. Lucy, a long term member of my staff whose judgement I totally trust, was at the time living in Nottingham, where she had a horse transport business.

Lucy went to see him on my behalf and liked him so much she didn’t even try him! She just popped him on her horse box and brought him to me.

As soon as he arrived we kitted him out with tack, jumped on him and took him out on the Chase. Toby is one of the few horses I have ever bought who really needed nothing at all from me, he just went straight into work.

And he has never looked back. I don’t think we have ever had a problem with him.

He is a happy and relaxed pony whose forte is teaching lots of novices. Because of his size he can carry both children and light adults, so he is very versatile.

He makes us laugh every autumn. As his winter coat arrives he grows a fabulous moustache! I always say he grows it for Movember and he becomes Colonel Toby.

This year was lovely as Pam, a member of my staff, is one of his biggest fans and she took him on his first ever Sheriff of Lichfield’s Ride.

The two preparation days were really hard work for her as Toby has a very thick mane and tail and long and dense feathers on his legs. She had to scrub and scrub but it was well worth her efforts.

He looked immaculate and it was fabulous to see him so beautifully turned out and enjoying every minute of his big day out.