“All I can say is that there was something – right from the first. She was not a My Little Pony sort of a horse, not a dolly-girl, not winsome and winning, not even terribly pretty.

“A stubby little mare, bright bay with remarkably large ears. A white star in her forehead shaped like Madagascar. A huge arse; which is good, not bad, because that’s where the power comes from. Not a horse that would turn heads, no, just a very horse-like horse. She stood, quiet, docile, as I approached her. I was a bit disappointed not to be offered something more lively. Ha. I placed a foot in the iron and swung on board...

“It was as if I had turned a key: all the lights came on. In that single instant, the horse came alive. She started buzzing. To tell the truth, I was a little alarmed: a little intimidated. This was definitely rather more horse than I was expecting...”

About the author

Simon Barnes is the multi-award-winning chief sportswriter for the Times. He is also a novelist, nature writer and horseman, and the bestselling autho

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