Posted by rylands on February 15th, 2009 in Longford Park
Horace the Goat 1996-2010
On the 23rd May a vet inspected Horace and came to the conclusion that the goat was in a lot of pain and that the most appropriate and humane course of action was to have it put down. Horace was a well loved feature of the park and he will be missed by many of the park users.
A comment from a local resident:
Absolutely gutted at the sad news. Had many an eventful time trying to walk Horace around the park, and I must say, very satisfying when we actually made it round! We are upset but understand that Horace is now at peace and without pain. God Bless.
Our thoughts are now with Chris who has looked after Horace for many, many years and did an absolutely wonderful job, as he does every day.
Janet & Family
Longford Park is home to the very popular Pet’s Corner. Here you will find hundreds of birds ranging from the exotic Kakariki from New Zealand to native geese and ducks. There are also dozens of rabbits as well as Horace the Goat.
Horace the Goat is currently the star attraction at Pet’s Corner. Horace is now over 12 years old, which is quite old for a goat, and is not so keen on his strolls around the park as he used to be. He is also a bit more elusive these days and evades the hordes of photographers by hanging out in his goat shed.
Only kidding…
Interesting facts about Horace
- He is believed to be from the Welsh Mountain goat breed
- He was donated to the Park several years ago by a couple from Sale that were finding young Horace quite a handful!
Horace’s favourite food is Sweet Meadow Muesli! The dedicated staff looking after Horace provide him with a high quality muesli specially formulated for the needs of goats. This muesli contains cereals, vegetable proteins and the necessary vitamins and minerals to keep Horace healthy. 
As part of the ‘Respect the Park’ event a mosiac was painted that included Horace. This mosiac can be found in the sheltered area of the ornamental gardens.
This information was kindly provided by the helpful and dedicated staff that look after all the animals in Pets Corner
In previous years the main attraction was Bruce the Budgie. According to the Manchester Evening News in March 2003:-
A BOLD budgie has decided flying is too much like hard work and has taken to riding around on the back of one of this feathered friends. Bruce the budgie has developed a talent for taming birds twice his size and using them as his own personal transport rather than having to flap his feathers to get from A to B.
The two-year-old developed his skill after owner Linda Moreno handed him over to her local aviary, Longford Park in Stretford, when his cage companion, Eddie, died and he pined for company. Linda said: When Eddie died, Bruce was heart-broken, he was pining for him so I thought he would really need some company and decided the aviary in pets corner in Longford park was the best place for him.
“He looked so sad sat in his cage on his own. I put him in the aviary nine months ago and since then he’s become the main attraction in pet’s corner because he rides around on the back of a quail. He doesn’t really have anything to do with the other budgies, maybe because he’s so traumatised about Eddie’s death. He gathers food for the quails and then hops on their back and rides around.
Animal keeper at Longford Park pet’s corner Chris Boardman said: Bruce chases the quails round and then hops on their back. The children think it’s absolutely hilarious, they just can’t believe it. He added: There’s now a white budgie who’s beginning to copy Bruce. It’s very unusual for a budgie to do something like this. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
More tails from Pets Corner coming soon…
