Sergeant

Sergeant is an 18hh black Irish Sport Horse born in 2008. He was bought and brought over from Ireland by the Ministry of Defence in 2016 and taken to live at Sandhurst, as they planned to train him to join the Household Cavalry. After their first attempts to do so, they quickly decided that he was unsuitable for the job. The usual process in those circumstances would be to sell the horse on to a member of the public, but they had reached a point where they were unable to even put a head collar on Sergeant, and he had been classed as dangerous and untrainable, so they were unwilling to sell him for fear of him seriously hurting someone, and he was to be put to sleep at 8 years of age. Thankfully, the wife of a cavalry soldier heard of his plight, found Shy Lowen and persuaded the MoD to give him a chance at a different future. He came to the sanctuary in summer 2016 with a file full of disclaimers to say he was not safe to handle or ride, and they would accept no liability for any injuries he may cause.

Handsome Sergeant settled in very quickly and proved to be a giant baby who simply needed a lot of love and reassurance. He is a lovely, gentle boy, but not the brightest, so needs plenty of time to process anything new! He is very good to handle, load and with the vet and farrier. By the end of the summer he had carried his first rider very calmly, and has been progressing well, but slowly ever since. Sergeant is available for rehoming on loan to an experienced and understanding home where he can continue his education.