15/03/2026
Please take a few moments to read, poor Hugo is find things really hard without a pony 😞
After many many messages & recommendations we are now going to try to fundraise to support Hugo in the sport he loves, Carriage driving with ponies.
Please take the time to read & click the link to help us get on our way. I am already incredibly humbled by the amount of support & messages we have received, I thank you all.
Please also click the share button because if we can get support far & wide this may also lead us to future pony links.
Good day to you reading this.
Hugo is our 8 year old son who has autism in 2025 he found a love for carriage driving, taking his mother’s footsteps & following the love of our ponies.
Hugo started to train with British Young drivers & began competing with the Indoor Carriage driving. Unfortunately as the season began in October 25 his pony slipped in the field & tore his back leg tendon. Having undergone a long operation he’s now tucked up in his stable on 3 months box rest in hope he will then be able to have 9 months field rest before he can come back into work.
During the time Patch pony was being diagnosed it became increasing clear Hugo was missing the sport & his quietness & sadness was becoming increasingly more.
We were extremely lucky that we had access to another stable so around Christmas time 25 we began the search for a pony that Hugo could focus on & begin driving, riding would be a bonus.
We found little Jack although a young pony he has a lovely kind heart as well as having been through a long summers driving he knew his job.
With lots for Jack to learn we felt it would be lovely for Hugo & Jack to grow together.
Jack arrived with us just after Christmas, so a late Christmas present but one he didn’t know was coming.
Jack instantly took to Hugo, he followed him around in the field, he allowed him to groom him, getting a brush caught Jack would patiently wait for Hugo to work out how to get it out.
He stood like an absolute rock to put into the carriage (those driving people reading this know how important this is) & they began there driving together.
At times Jack wasn’t sure he listened to Hugo & they were building a lovely partnership together.
They were enjoying cones practicing working on there left & right turns & there partnership together.
We hadn’t managed to get out competing just yet but Hugo wanted to do the online driven dressage in hope he would be able to start his rosette collection with Jack as he has a huge one with Patch.
They drove each week, some weeks twice but with this shocking winter rain it was hard sometimes to get the drives in, the drives the had together were building a bond & it was truly magical to see.
Last Tuesday the 3rd of February 2026 Jack appeared to have colic, ever equestrian owners fear but sometime we are all familiar with. With the vet coming out to treat him we had a plan in place & his recovery should have been swift, after a couple of days Jack didn’t appear to be bouncing back from colic & having had the vet of speed dial, seen him several times, bloods taken to check for an infection nothing seemed to be adding up. We took him into the hospital & he presented himself as bright, he was always pleased to see people & had a little smile under his cheeky face fluff. After just a few hours at the hospital under an amazing team of vets it was discussed that Jack had all the signs of grass sickness. Now if your an equestrian reading this now your either of heard of it, heard it talked about, read up on it & know absolutely everything or have never of heard of it.
Unfortunately for me I’ve read up on it, knew someone who’s horse had it so I knew this wasn’t going to be a straightforward recovery. ❤️🩹
On Monday Jack showed small signs of improvements & we began to think about nursing recovery for him at home. However on Tuesday Jack had a small deterioration in the morning, come the afternoon when I went to visit him his eyes looked sad. I gave him a groom & reminded him Hugo was there for him however Jack took a huge deterioration & laid down, looked at me as if to say I cannot do this & we lost the poor little lad.
Grass sickness is very rare, it’s something they do not know enough about to treat, it was eating poor Jack alive inside out.
We have given the vets permission to use bloods etc from Jack to help medical science teams to do their thing, it’s a disease we do not know enough about, what we know is 100 horses can graze the ground & show no signs however 1 of those horses can get grass sickness. We this unprecedented amount of rain something had washed up on the soil that Jack has eaten, even thought we caught it early very few horses do survive sadly. It’s truly an evil & devastated disease & one I wouldn’t wish upon any equestrian owner.
Having to collect Hugo from school sharing the devastating news with him gave me a broken heart let alone my little 8 year old boy in front of me. Hugo had many many questions of which I was able to help with some.
He’s now lost again, without this little pony he had built a bond with in such a short space of time, it’s utterly devastating to see.
The sad reality how do we fund a new pony for Hugo, we cannot & having been given this idea I’m here now with this page asking you to make a donation to help try to re build what’s been taken so suddenly.
How we begin to look for a new pony will only happen in time but right now every little donation will help us understand how we do this.
We are forever grateful for those around us for all their support.
Iʼm raising money to fund disability support. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.
