MEET best friends Gilbert and Howard.

Gilbert, a one-year-old pig, shares a field off Stockton Lane, near York, with Howard, a Clydesdale horse, and the pair have become pals.

“They have become good buddies,”said their owner Collette Wright, who took Gilbert in as an orphan piglet.

“Howard lets Gilbert go under his tummy when it’s raining.”

But the odd couple had to be separated for a while last summer, while Howard was treated for a poorly foot, and now his treatment is set to be featured shortly on Channel 5’ TV programme, The Yorkshire Vet.

Collette said the programme, which she expected to be broadcast in March, showed Howard initially being treated by vet Julian Norton and then operated on at the Rainbow Equine Hospital in Malton.

She said the treatment had gone well, leaving Howard, who had been suffering from a gravel infection, able to enjoy more time with Gilbert.