6 years ago my Dad and hero was diagnosed with prostate cancer and he asked if I’d learn to ride a racehorse to ride in the Macmillan Cancer Support charity horse race at York…how could I say no even after I’d had a terrible fall at age 13 that landed me in hospital and saw me lose my confidence and barely ride since. I gladly took on the challenge and was humbled by the support, after 6 months of training I made it around York racecourse to finish 6th and wow what a feeling when I dismounted by horse and my Dad picked me up and spun me around in a hug, words could never convey so much.

After that I got the bug and continued to ride out on the weekends and the following year won the BHS Charity Race at Newbury just a little over a week after we’d lost my grandfather (he was definitely there in the saddle that day).

And so now, with my Dad having been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer he’d like to see me ride again, so I’m dusting off my boots and going to ride at Wetherby, our favourite local jumps track. At the age of 31 I don’t bounce as well as I used to, it’s 5 years since I won at Newbury, and I don’t want to drop below my 50% wins to rides strike rate (not even Frankie Dettori has that!) so please donate what you can and inspire me to get through the training, the falls and the British weather to do this for my Dad.

The British Horse Society promote many things including road safety: too many horses and riders are being killed or injured on UK roads. Over the past year there have been over 1,000 incident reports on our roads involving horses; 180 have been injured and 46 killed - but they know only one in ten incidents are reported. They are dedicated to improving the safety of UK riders. As someone who regularly rides on the roads, drivers and cyclists pass for too fast and close, please help us educate them.

The BHS also responds to over 6,000 welfare cases each year, but there are a thousand more in need of help. Please give what you can to save and protect an animal that gives everything to us.