From publishing to poo-picking - the truth

So I'm editor of the UK's leading equestrian monthly. The pace of life is fast, deadlines have to be met, features have to be commissioned well in advance and I mean well in advance. We have Christmas in September, for goodness sake. I'm proud of what I do and most of the time I love it. One particular day I am sitting at my desk looking out of the window and it's sunny. While I go into a short daydream thinking how lovely it would be to be out riding my horse right now, rather than sitting in an office, I start to expand on the idea. It needn't be a dream, it could be reality - if I am brave enough.

I come across a position in Devon - looking after a lady's two dressage horses and the occasional dog sitting in return for a house and both my horses' livery, plus a small wage. I immediately ring my partner. He thinks it 'sounds wonderful darling', so off we go to meet this lady to see whether this is the most stupid idea I have ever come up with or whether it could become reality. But first, let me introduce the gang.

You see it's not just me I have to think about as my family extends somewhat to include two horses, a dog and my partner's (that's Dave) three cats. Believe you me, I am grateful that there are only three cats, because when mummy cat gave birth to five kittens we were nearly bringing all six! So first up the ponies.

Eek (Unique and boy is she unique, that's her above) is a 16hh warmblood mare. Her breeding is to die for - Rubenstein lines on her daddy's side and Ferro somewhere on the mother's. Her brain is a different matter altogether. When I was idly window shopping for horses, I kept coming across the same bay mare - she was everywhere all of a sudden - and I started to believe it was fate. I went to see her with a friend and on the way home the friend was very polite. 'Well she certainly moves' and 'She seems very safe' amongst other comments. Apparently, when she got out of the car and saw my sister a few minutes later, she said: 'Your sister needs her effing head seen to if she buys that animal'. You see I wanted a dressage horse and Eek wants to be a mounted games pony. But we are getting there - very very slowly.

Then there's Amelie - Spam as I call her, for no apparent reason. Am Spam is a hot red-headed warmblood who belongs to my good friend Jo. Jo bought her and quickly decided she had bought the wrong horse - Jo has back problems and Ams is a bit sharp! So somehow Ams came to me. She's a real sweetie and unlike Eek, she actually wants to put her head down, not canter sideways through bending poles. She's just a bit scary sometimes.

Roxster - the dog - is a Parson's Terrier, which is the posh name for a Jack Russell (well that's what I think). Rox can do no wrong in my eyes and I love her to bits. OK she kills rabbits and switches off her hearing aid when she hears the words 'Roxy come here now!' but it's not her fault - at all, OK?

Dave (it's OK, he knows the pecking order) is my lovely man. We had a 'very serious' relationship back at school when we were nine. It lasted about three weeks and I was devastated when we split up! Little did I know that I'd have to wait 31 years to get him back! Thank God for Facebook and thank God even more for Carl Hester's horse Lenny (Liebling) but that's another story which I will expand on sometime.

The cats - sorry I don't do cats, so there's mummy cat, who sticks her tongue out all the time, and her two kittens - Jack, (who's actually quite cool for a cat) and Big Foot who has deformed feet - extra toes, the weirdo.

The move

So I hand in my notice at work and we're off! A lorry full of animals and belongings - and I still own a flat in Surrey which is yet to be sold. Oh and I forgot to mention I have a huge loan (for Eek) and no savings. Dave works, but his work is mostly summer based and a little sporadic shall we say. The idea is for me to do freelance work when I'm not looking after my boss's ponies and in fact I am relying on that quite a lot - well an awful lot to be honest.

I'm excited, nervous and terrified all at the same time and I wish people would stop telling me how brave I am! Heading along the A303 with Eek and Spam on board - Roxster in the passenger seat, bless her, she's such a good girl - my head is filled with emotions. Why didn't I just stay in my secure job and sacrifice the odd summer day's ride. After all, it rains a lot in Devon anyway, doesn't it?

To follow - what can possibly go wrong? You name it, it did!