Forever friends: racehorses who found happiness with others

A recent report revealed a doubling in the number of people aged 50 and older who have never been married and are not in a long-term relationship. A room for one is often the way for racehorses as well, but there are a few who have bucked the trend over the years and found solace living with another...

Monalee and Harvey the goat

Despite being a big brute of a horse, Monalee tends to get himself a bit worked up when travelling. The solution? A hairy little companion called Harvey.

Monalee (left) befriended Harvey the goatCredit: Edward Whitaker

Monalee and Harvey spend their days together and when Monalee heads to the races he can rest assured that his friend will be there to support him every step of the way.

Mind you, Monalee still likes to be the boss and should Harvey get too much attention he is liable to get a good telling off from his equine partner.

Strong Impact and Charlie the pig

It can take a while to find your perfect partner and after sniffing around in several other stalls, Charlie found the right place alongside Strong Impact.

Charlie would spend his days tucked up in the corner of Strong Impact’s stall. When he was not in there, Strong Impact would do all he could to herd his pink pal back in alongside him.

“The horse worries when Charlie isn’t in the stall,” Andres Garcia, barn watchman at Belmont for trainer Bruce Brown, told the New York Times.

Remittance Man: 1992 Champion Chase winner was a worrierCredit: Edward Whitaker

Remittance Man and Nobby the sheep

Remittance Man was highly talented, but also highly strung. He would constantly walk his box until trainer Nicky Henderson introduced him to Nobby.

Remittance Man became obsessed with Nobby, so much so that when the sheep was returned to his flock and replaced, Remittance Man picked up the intruder and threw him out of the stable.

After much effort, Nobby was found among the flock of 400 and returned to his soulmate, much to the relief of all.

Don’t Push It and a flock of sheep

It started with one sheep for Don’t Push It and quickly escalated to half a dozen.

Don’t Push It was not fond of other horses and was relocated to a stable near the bottom of trainer Jonjo O’Neill’s gallop. The move failed to spark much life into the future Grand National winner, who showed little interest in his food, until he was joined by a sheep.

Don’t Push It’s affection for sheep grew so much that more were introduced to keep him company and he never looked back.

American Pharoah and Smokey the pony

American Pharoah was a mighty racehorse, winning the US Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2015.

With him every step of the way was Smokey, a buckskin gelding who would calm and offer reassurance to his nervous and flighty friend.

“Smokey's my favourite horse in the barn,” said trainer Bob Baffert. “It's sort of cool to see him out there before the races start. We rub his forehead for luck.”