The cob converts

Five former self-confessed cob snobs tell Eleanor Jones how a special horse has reformed their way of thinking, crediting cobs for feats such as bringing meaning back to life and making a mockery of prejudices

"ANYTHING but a cob," Ellen Shaw would declare before her riding lessons. No suggestion of bone, nor yet feather and a moustache? No chance.

"I used to say to my riding instructor, 'Don't put me on a cob, whatever you do," Ellen says. "I refused to get on anything remotely hairy; I was a massive snob."

Ellen had had a thoroughbred/New Forest pony as a child, who wore duvets under his rugs and was hard to keep weight on.

"Everyone I rode with had sport horses, and I thought that's what I was going to buy, too," she explains.

Ellen viewed plenty, but soon realised her job as a criminal barrister and a flashy blood horse might not be compatible.

"I thought that if I bought one of those, I'd be dead in three weeks, with the amount of riding I was able to do," she says.

Ellen had wanted a horse of at least 15hh to keep up with her friends, but was persuaded into viewing 14.2hh Rover.

"I sat on him and thought, 'Oh, actually, this is all right, he moves nicely," she said. "The seller said I could ride him round the industrial estate and this massive HGV let its air brakes off and he just looked at it and stood there. I thought, 'Yep, I could buy him.' My friend came to pick him up and said, 'What is this?' I said, 'You'll be surprised."

And she, and Ellen, were.

Ellen admits that Rover has had a full makeover from those days, when his mane was to his knees and he had feather aplenty. He is now kept clipped, trimmed and hogged. He hacks out perfectly in the heaviest traffic and is a "super-sweet" character, who Ellen says has never made her feel unsafe. But that's not all.

"I realised he could jump, as he used to jump out of the field when there wasn't enough grass," she says. "He happily jumps round 90-100cm and he's so honest and kind; he always tries to help you."