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H&H’s 10 most heart-warming stories from 2019 that are sure to make you smile


  • 1. ‘I burst into tears’: Pammy Hutton’s missing horse found after Facebook appeal

    Read +65,000 times

    Top dressage rider and trainer Pammy Hutton praised the power of social media after a horse who went missing in October was found the next day.

    2. Heroic bystander saves drowning horse in dramatic sea rescue

    Photograph taken from sandbank showing the horse at sea

    Read +43,500 times

    A showing producer saved a drowning horse who had unseated his rider and swam out to sea, in a dramatic beach rescue.

    3. Abandoned elderly horse undergoes ‘miraculous transformation’

    Jack’s ‘transformation’

    Read +39,000 times

    An abandoned elderly horse found suffering underwent a “miraculous transformation” and was given a second chance in his new “forever home”.

    4. Last living Black Beauty celebrates 30th birthday

    Read +38,500 times

    The last living Black Beauty celebrated his 30th birthday with the help of 200 fans.

    5. Foal saved from slaughter in Portugal becomes TV soap star

    Read +35,500 times

    Samuel L Jackson (Sammy) made his first appearance on Coronation Street this week, five years after he was taken in by Dylan Jones of Dolbadarn Film Horses in Gwynedd.

    6. Hours old filly dumped to die is ‘brought back to life’ to new hope

    Read +32,000 times

    A tiny filly, thought to have been thrown over a fence to die at less than a day old, was brought back from the dead to a hopeful future.

    7. Big Star back in the ring — with John Whitaker on board

    Read +29,500 times

    Nearly three years to the day that Big Star and Nick Skelton clinched that momentous Olympic gold medal in Rio, the now rising 17-year-old stallion was back in the ring — with another legendary rider in the saddle, John Whitaker

    8. ‘Worst ever’ rescue case makes miracle transformation to show champion

    Read +28,500 times

    Two rescue ponies, one among the “worst cases” charity staff have ever seen, were transformed into showing champions at the end of the summer.

    9. Mounted police ‘delighted’ as critically rare horse joins the force

    Read +28,500 times

    A police force welcomed a critically rare Suffolk horse as a new recruit after she successfully passed her training.

    10. Pippa Funnell’s treasured Team GBR hat silk handed in after heart-felt plea

    Pippa Funnell hat silk

    Read +28,500 times

    Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 2019 winner Pippa Funnell was reunited with her Team GBR hat silk, which flew off as she tackled the cross-country course with MGH Grafton Street in September.

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