“DAD, can I get a pony?” From an early age, this was all I wanted and I was saving any money I could, so as to buy one when it was allowed. We had no background in horses, no stables and only a small bit of land. However, when I was about 17, my dream finally came true and I was allowed buy Oldcourt Foxcub from a good friend of ours, Mrs Brigit Connelly. I then set about building stables, which I completed myself.

This was the start of many years of very successful competing at shows, with my sisters Paula and Judy doing the producing, my brother John and another sister, Hilary, doing the riding and I did the organising and driving.