Sheep helps horse through dentist visit trauma

Jojo the shire horse and Hetty the sheep together at the dentists

A horse survived the trauma of a recent visit to the dentist – with help from her companion sheep.

Jojo, a 19-year-old shire horse mare, needed an hour’s specialist treatment on her teeth last week.

She spent the entire session with Hetty the black sheep snuggled underneath her.

The animals’ owners, from Anglesey, said the pair are inseparable, while vets say it is unlike anything they have ever seen.

Hetty the sheep was determined not to let Jojo the horse go to the dentist alone

Owner Susan Ray said that Hetty the sheep was determined to accompany Jojo the horse to the dentist.

“Hetty wouldn’t leave Jojo," she said.

“As we were loading Jojo for the trip, she was straight up the ramp into the horsebox.

“It was as if she was trying to say ‘no, Jojo isn’t going on her own’."

And when they got to the dentist in Bangor, Gwynedd, Hetty stayed with Jojo, even though there were no gates or fences in place to stop her running around the building.

Andy Peffers, from North Wales Equine Dental Practice, treated Jojo, and said: “This was a new thing for us.

“I've been a vet 28 years and never seen a horse and sheep so bonded.

“The two are inseparable and Hetty travelled to the clinic by standing between Jojo’s legs under her belly.

“Then when Jojo was being treated in the stocks, Hetty also came in and stood for the whole hour of treatment under Jojo’s legs.

“It really was beautiful to see their relationship."

Jojo and Hetty have been companions for around a year

That relationship began a year ago when Jojo’s mother died, and her owners brought Hetty from a nearby farm for companionship in her field.

“They are inseparable," Susan added.

“They play together, they run round the field together – we joke that Hetty bounces around like the cartoon character Pepe Le Pew.”