Apart from myself, Mr. P and the Wildlings there are some extra members of our household that all play a special role in making Trohanny Cottage part of what it is today.
All together we have 8 four legged souls. Two horses, two donkeys, two cats and two dogs.
These extra 'siblings' also go by the name of 'The Welcoming Committee' and as anyone who stays with us will attest they take their jobs very seriously indeed!
Out of the eight, six of those are rescue animals. I do try to home a rescue where possible. It can bring its own set of issues but ultimately very worth it.
So I'll just start today with naming them all and showing you a photo of each so when I talk about them you know who is who..
The Horses
Solas and Jet are our horses.
Both are Irish bred geldings (castrated males). Solas is a 15.2 (and a bit) Palomino Irish sport horse. He's just turned 11. Bold and bossy and far too clever for his own good, he's actually a big baby under it all my 'big yellow pony'! He has been lame for 15 months plus, and I miss riding him, yet I am trying to keep positive and not give up on the dreams I have with him.
Jet is our little 14.1 black Gypsy cob, he's 7/8 years old (rescuers had to guess his age) and we adopted him 4 and a half years ago. He is a wee dote and adored by anyone that meets him, in fact he almost has his own fan club at this stage! He is a sensitive soul but he has far exceeded any expectations I could have had for him. His past issues can bring challenges at times and may be something I will always be working with, time will tell..
The Donkeys
Breffni and Rosie are our donkeys.
I've had Breffni the longest of all of our animals. He's a very special boy and a massive character he's about 20/21 now.
He is the grey one and has a ongoing battle to beat the bulge as he is rather fond of food and will bulldoze through anyone or anything to get to a feed bucket! He also has the strength of a bear and the speed of a cheetah once a vet or a syringe of any type appears. This has resulted in myself and my very patient vet both being dragged around in circles or down a paddock on more than one occasion!!
Rosie is the darker coloured one. She is about 14 now. She is one of the only 2 girls we have (not including myself) she is a lovely character very sweet and very sensible so easy to do anything with and keeps Breffni in line when possible!
The Cats
Nya (little Miss Nya)is our black n white female cat. She was rescued 2 years ago and we've had her since she was a teeny 4 four week old that would fit in your pocket. She's turned into a fiesty sassy lady but clever and so gentle with the Wildlings particularly Mr.C who adores her.
Herself and the newly acquired Ron have a love/hate relationship. In fairness its probably 10/90 in favour of hate but there are moments (very brief moments) of amicable peace!!
Big Ron (Maximus Ronulus) named after Harry Potters' Ronald Weasley is our most recent addition. Another rescue that we got after our beloved Trodaí (the King) passed away early this year. He is a ginger tabby, almost a year old.
He is the comedian of the family and has us in stitches on a regular basis, in fact you could call him the Irish Garfield and is quickly becoming the poster boy of the cottage.
You will see him out and about on walks with The Wildlings or on hacks with me and the horses. He's becoming quite adventurous, but the funny part is we often have to go back and find him and bring him home. If he loses us or gets a fright he hides somewhere waiting to be rescued and because it was discovered as a kitten he has an oversize trachea he can't meoiw properly, so all you can hear is little squeaky noises coming out of the bushes!
Ron may pounce on your legs as you pass and may attack the dogs from a hidden spot like a tiger in the jungle but ultimately Nya is the braver one, he's a big hairy orange wuss that squeaks and we love him all the more for it.
The Dogs
Last but not least we have our two rescue dogs Bobby and Bran. It's almost impossible to talk about these two separately as you almost never see one without the other.
Bobby (aka Bobby Dazzler) is the other funny guy in the group. Possibly closer to loopy you could say at times! He's a Jack Russell terrier and at nearly 6 he's a couple of years older than Bran, but after meeting them you would think the opposite.
Bobby is always either eating or chasing something.. The horses, tractors, Ron, his tail..
I have attempted to train Bobby to recall, but as we rescued him when he was almost a year already and was found wandering the streets at his leisure, he puts two fingers up to recall most of the time and will even forgo food if there's a chase to be had!!
Bobby is (as he might put it) 'a free spirit' or as I would put it when I'm trying to catch the horses.. 'a massive pain in the ass'.. but he is the cutest pain in the ass, and so friendly and funny you can't help but forgive him every time.
Bran is nearly 3 years old. We rescued him as a pup. He's a black and tan terrier cross.
To me he looks like a collie/Alsatian cross who's legs never grew! He is the total opposite of Bobby. He is very soft hearted, intense in his love, cautious, wary, a great little guard dog and very responsive to any question you ask of him.
He reminds me a lot of my very special boy Ceo that passed on a few years ago. That intensity of love they hold for you and the expression in their eyes. The kind of dogs that don't make you laugh so much but break your heart when they go.
Saying that, when Bran and Bobby get together they wind each other up like a pair of teenage lads at a disco and the shenanigans outside with the horses are a sight to behold.
If you didn't know better you'd think the dogs were worrying the horses. But I've watched them so long now I can see the nuances, especially between Solas and Bobby.
It's a game they play, one as bad as the other. This is where I came up with the '4 legged crazy crew' tag as you would understand with any of the videos I post of their antics.
So that's a longer introduction than I'd planned, but each one of them deserves their moment and each one of them has a special character and a place at the heart of Trohanny Cottage.
You can follow us on Facebook or Instagram @trohannycottage for updates on all the animals 😊
*We now have two extra added to our crazy crew, both collie girls from the rescue center ..Banba and Brí ! Keep up to date on our socials*
