It’s perhaps the ultimate fairytale – the wedding day, a white horse, a handsome prince.
But for Hannah Bishop, when she married Maxwell, it was with her handsome Prince on hand, the horse she had saved from the meat man, who vets said should be put down, but whom she “brought back to life”, to be her horse of a lifetime.
Hannah made the heartbreaking decision to sell her beloved Prince some 18 months ago, and he is now making a little girl’s dreams come true, but his new owners very kindly agreed to lend him back for the big day.
“It could only have been him,” Hanah told H&H. “It was very, very special; a bit of a little girl’s dream. It was so cool we managed to pull it off.”
Hannah bought Prince when he was four or five; she said she had been given some money to buy a project.
“I went to a dealer with it and there wasn’t anything I could afford,” she said. “He said they had this poorly pony they couldn’t help, so he was going to go on the lorry to the meat man the next day. He said ‘You can have him for that much’, and I said ‘Ok’.
“He was in a terrible state; I could put my hand between each of his ribs, he was riddled with viruses, the vets suggested I put him down but I refused. I brought him back to life to be my pony of a lifetime.”
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Picture by www.sarahfarnsworth.co.uk
(Image credit: www.sarahfarnsworth.co.uk)
Prince was suffering from strangles, among other ailments, so the yard Hannah brought him home to had to be locked down.
“It was a bit of a nightmare – but he didn’t want to die,” she said. “Every day, he’d be at the gate waiting for me. He was always so bright and friendly; one of those horses you feel has been here before, a bit human. There was just something about him, and I thought ‘I’m going to throw everything at him’ to make him better. And I’m so glad I did.”
Once Prince recovered, he went on to do everything; Pony Club, hunting, team-chasing, hunt rides, eventing.
“He’s always been an angel,” Hannah said. “I used to ride him with no tack, cantering in the open fields, jumping the hunt jumps. Maybe he knew I’d saved him – he’d have done anything for me, or for anyone else.”
Hannah field-mastered with Prince, and went out with the Beaufort, the VWH (Vale of the White Horse) and others, jumping hedges “he couldn’t see over”, and featuring on the cover of the H&H hunting special in 2017. He taught children to ride, stood in when other riders’ ponies were injured and had the time of his life.
Hannah owned him for 10 years but realised last year that he needed to be the centre of someone’s world.
“He wants to be someone’s number one and I wanted that for him,” she said. “It was a very hard decision for me but the right one for him.”
Then when Max proposed, an idea occurred to Hannah.
Picture by Amber Louise Photography
(Image credit: creditUnknown)
“I thought how much I’d like to ride in on him, in my white dress,” she said. “It took me a long time to get the courage to text his new owners, and of course I said I knew it was really cheeky and feel free to say no – but they said ‘Yes, yes, yes, absolutely!’ He’s now in Norfolk, a good five hours from me in Wiltshire, but my lovely maid of honour went to pick him up for me.”
Hannah said the plan had been to have a practice before the big day, 23 August, but time ran away from them.
“I was questioning my sanity a bit, but then remembered what a legend he is,” she said. “It went better than we could have hoped; he loved it. He’s always loved attention and having his picture taken.”
Hannah explained that Max came in next to her and Prince on his bike, as “that’s his thing, horses are mine so it wouldn’t have been right to have him on a horse”.
“Of course it was the best day of my life, but it couldn’t have been any more special, because Prince was there,” she said. “It was like the fairytale I’d always dreamed of.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
