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Well, anyone who knows me will be able to tell you that horses are a great passion of mine.
When I was about 12 I went for my first riding lesson (which took a great deal of nagging
at home I can tell you). Basically I loved it. From that moment onwards I spent every
weekend, holiday and even evening learning all I could about horses. In the end Mum
& Dad reluctantly allowed me to have a pony on loan.

That pony was the "wonderful" Truffles. She was a liver chestnut mare, about 15 years
old and was notoriously known as the yards resident "kicker". She was (in my opinion)
the best jumper on the yard. Of course, I loved her.

About two years after that came the next adventure. Her name was Angel and she was a rather
fancy looking palamino arab mare. At that time she was only about 6 years old and stood at
around 15hh. I was mad about her. She was a very classy looking horse, and hence I loved the
thought of showing her. She was aptly nicknamed "holy shit" at the yard due to her rather
skittish nature, and sadly it was due to this that she was so crazy that I never managed
to take her to a show without her spinning like a top and me going sailing out of the
"front window".

Last, but by no means least came Sadie - the unbeatable, trusty, faithful friend that I'll never
forget. My friend Helen gave me a call one day to say that there was a pony available for loan
at her yard, was I interested ? Well, to cut a long story short, I went there with a view to
loaning the pony for around six months. About a year and a half later I put to one side
all plans to go to university, got myself a job and bought her. She was a beautiful, near
black New Forest pony with a perfect white star. She was as nervous as hell, unpredictable,
jealous and sometimes completely unpleasable but I loved her to bits. As time went on,
my friend Louise joined in looking after her and we spent many a year having great
fun with her. Louise loved her more than anything too, which is nice as we now
often talk about all the fun times we spent together. In the end, both Louise and
I had become too tall to ride her and hence it was time to look for someone else to
look after her. There was no was that I wanted to sell her (you can never be sure
what harm will come to a horse when you sell it on), hence the Blue Cross
were able to help us by finding her a "loan home". She will now either spend
her remaining days in her current home, or will return to the Blue Cross
- either of which options will ensure her a secure happy time.

Well, whoever said that a dog is mans best friend is a person after my own heart.
I have a dog, Lucky (or Gromit as she's often known). We were lucky enough to get
her from a rescue home in the Chiltens about three years ago. She's nervous, a bit
on the destructive side, has countless health problems (that incur countless vets bills),
but the whole family (and indeed anyone who meets her) love her dearly. She is tan
(or should I say "orange") and white, with a spotty ear. She's about 8 or 9 years old,
medium sized and is a cross between a staffy and something else (we were told
possible a whippet - strange combination I know !)