Mr Raffles is a typical Irish Cob. His vital statistics are 14.2hh high x 18hh wide. He is a loveable bay gelding with a cheeky attitude. If he were a human he would be a naugty school boy armed with a pea shooter and catapult who wore his cap the wrong way round and never did his homework.

Mr Raffles is my first horse. I’ve had plenty more since but he is still my favourite and I would never sell him.

I dreamed of having a horse from the age of 7. When I was 29 I had a car accident. I received a small payout for a whiplash claim. The sensible choice would have been to pay off my credit card but I bought a horse. Well who wouldn’t have?

I started to look around the local papers as the internet wasn’t really in full swing then. I saw a couple of totally unsuitable horses and then went to see Raffs. It was love at first sight! For me at least anyway.

In theory he was suitable as a first horse as he was a short, fat, reliable cob. The unsuitable bit was that he was (alledgedly) only four years old and I had never put a head collar on a horse never mind looked after one. I’d had some riding lessons and was at the stage of nearly being able to canter without losing my stirrups.

Anyway that wasn’t going to put me off my lifes dream so the deal was done and he arrived a few days later.

I’ve owned him for 9 years now and we’ve had a few adventures. Some of which you will find on this website and some I’d rather keep to myself!