The owner of a pony who was sold almost 50 years ago said she is now at peace knowing he lived out his days surrounded by love in his final home.
Jacki Gordon’s parents sold her 14.1hh gelding Ziggy in the 1970s and although Jacki kept in touch with the buyer, he was sold on and she lost contact.
By chance last weekend, Jacki found the Facebook group Trace My Horse UK and she posted to see if anyone knew of Ziggy. Within days, she had been put in touch with the people who owned him.
“I can’t tell you how this feels,” Jacki told H&H. “I couldn’t have talked about it yesterday as I was crying all day.”
Jacki grew up riding friends’ horses and ponies and desperate for one of her own.
“For years, I’d leave handwritten notes on my parents’ pillows asking for a pony and eventually, when I was about 15, they bought one,” she said. “My mother thought it would keep me away from boys and out of mischief, but I was never interested in boys anyway!
“He was a great all-round pony who followed me round like a dog – so we were unbeatable at musical poles – and so empathetic and kind. We had a real connection; once we were riding in the indoor school and he slipped and fell on me. He got up and stood over me, checking I was ok. We had such a strong bond.”
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Jacki had Ziggy for about four years but then, when she was at university, he was sold.
“I remember it was my parents’ decision; they thought I should spend more time studying,” she said.
Jacki lived in Glasgow and Ziggy was sold to a girl in Ayrshire. Jacki did not go to visit, fearing it could unsettle Ziggy, but kept in touch with his new owner by letter.
“A couple of years later, she wrote to say she’d sold him to the neighbouring farm and that was it, I lost contact,” Jacki said. “I was always plagued; was he loved and did he live out his life happily? Then, on Sunday, the Trace My Horse group came up on Facebook.”
It happened that Jacki had just been scanning some of her late father’s photographs from slides, so she had quality pictures of Ziggy to share. These, and the fact he had distinguishing white leg marks, no doubt helped, and a friend of Ziggy’s last owner commented on the post soon afterwards, putting Jacki and the owner’s daughter in touch.
“We’ve been messaging and I’ve got more details,” Jacki said. “I’d never got over not knowing where he was but he’d stayed at that second farm and lived out his life happily. The owner said they used to ride him bareback to get the cows in and he was so clever, he’d have done it without anyone riding him. They absolutely adored him.”
Jacki did not ask how old Ziggy was when he died, adding: “I didn’t need to know that, it was enough to know he lived out his years happily and stayed with them all his life. That’s all I needed to know. When he was sold, I was very upset but far more than that, it was about him and was he ok.”
Jacki said it was the doubt as to whether Ziggy had been happy and loved that had plagued her, and this has now been taken away.
“For nearly 50 years, I’ve had nightmares, every other week,” she said. “Was he loved, how did he live out his life. And now that’s been put to rest. The huge thing for me, and I use these words advisedly, is that now I’m at peace. I’m so grateful to Trace My Horse. This has been transformative for me.”
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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.
