Pony

I first sat on a horse when I was about two, at the riding school that my older sister went to. She gave up riding soon after but her crash hat and hacking jacket were put in the dressing up box and became the basis for all my dreams and make-believe about riding and the foundation for a lifelong love of horses. I badgered my parents into letting me have lessons when I was five, and by the time I was ten I was helping at the local riding school on the weekends.

My first pony, Henry, came along soon after that and he was an unqualified disaster as he kept bolting with me and throwing me off. I kept this to myself and just enjoyed grooming and looking after him, allowing an older, more experienced friend to ride him. When my bewildered parents were eventually told, they swapped Henry for Heidi, a much quieter pony, but I cried long and hard for the loss of Henry. We took Heidi with us when we moved to a small farm in the country and other ponies came and went as I grew up. I spent countless happy hours riding with my friends, having adventures, going to shows and coping with the difficult teenage years with the help of my ponies who, unlike my boyfriends, never let me down.

I think it is fair to say that I am obsessed with horses and that writing about them is a real joy. As a child at junior school I was told off for always writing about horses, and challenged by my teacher to write an essay without one in. Obediently, I did my next essay about a unicorn but we argued long and hard as to whether a unicorn was a horse or not. I wrote my first book almost by accident. I wanted to do some horse related illustrations and couldn’t find a suitable text to work from. I decided to write my own story – this turned into the Brazen Horse and started me off as a writer.

My passion for horses hasn’t faltered through nearly forty years, during which time I have taken part in nearly all equestrian disciplines including horse trials, show-jumping, dressage, showing, side-saddle and endurance. When I got married I rode away from the church, side-saddle in my wedding dress accompanied by my husband, who was then a fairly novice rider. We have five horses at the moment, including Gaudi, (the inspiration for the Brazen Horse), Salote, (who is on the cover of A Tangle of Ponies) and a handsome young chestnut called Archie who is growing up to be very much like Gold from the Green Horse Hotel. Having the stories translated into other languages has been wonderful, and proves to me something that I have suspected for many years, that the love of horses is international and these very special creatures are in the dreams of children everywhere.