Hi, I’m Kelly.

I’m 45, married, mum to two daughters and, like many of you, completely horse obsessed.

I’ve loved horses for as long as I can remember.

I started riding when I was seven, back when health and safety was a very different thing. We galloped at the back of the ride, hoping we’d still be attached by the end. Horses bolted. People fell off. Riding hat silks got left hanging in trees. We went cross-country with little more than enthusiasm and confidence. Somehow, we all survived, and I absolutely loved every minute of it.

I got my first horse at fourteen. It was a bit of a bribe after my parents moved us from Kent to Cheshire, but it worked!

That was when I really learned what horse ownership meant.

Cycling to the yard.

Working weekends.

Saving every penny.

Learning from books because there was no YouTube and no internet to ask for advice.

Spending every spare minute with my horse.

Like so many horse owners, I thought I wanted to work with horses. I worked and lived on a livery yard, started my BHS qualifications and worked towards my stages. I loved it, but when I reached the point where I had to jump bigger than I was comfortable with to progress, I decided that wasn’t the path for me.

Instead, I chose to enjoy horses my own way.

Over the years, my horses lived on all sorts of different yards.

Some brilliant.

Some… not so brilliant.

I worked shifts so I could still ride.

I worked part-time on a hunting yard because it meant I could earn money and still spend time with my horses.

Like so many of us, every decision was made around the horses.

Eventually, life took us to France.

The dream was simple.

Buy a house with enough land to keep our horses at home.

Except, as we quickly discovered, keeping horses in France isn’t quite the same as keeping horses in England. The land is different. The climate is different. We simply didn’t have enough grazing, and before long our horses were back on livery.

Then our eldest daughter started progressing through the sport. She was being encouraged to move up through the levels, and we realised we needed facilities we simply didn’t have, so once again, our horses went back onto a livery yard.

We spent almost five years searching for the right farm.

Farms with enough land don’t come up very often, and when the right one finally did, we put together a business plan, submitted our offer and, during the middle of COVID, somehow two self-employed people managed to buy the farm we’d been dreaming about.

It was surreal.

It wasn’t ready.

In fact, much of it wasn’t even habitable.

But it had the one thing we couldn’t create anywhere else.

Potential.

We’ve spent the last few years renovating the farmhouse, creating the grazing, improving the facilities and slowly turning it into the place we’d always imagined.

When we designed our own livery yard, we made one promise to ourselves.

It would be everything we’d loved about the yards we’d used over the years and none of the things we hadn’t.

That’s why Les Écuries des Chevaliers is a private, relaxed, horse-first grass livery yard.

No riding school.

No pressure.

No politics.

No cliques.

Just happy horses, supportive owners and beautiful countryside to enjoy together.

Today we’re responsible for seventeen horses.

Some are youngsters.

Some are retired.

Some are rescues.

Some compete.

Some simply enjoy life in the field.

Our eldest daughter is now pursuing her own equestrian career and has completed work experience with John Whitaker’s team. She’s now spending time with international riders here in France and building her own future in the sport.

Our youngest loves dressage.

My husband insists they’re all my horses… until one escapes or needs rescuing. Then somehow he’s always the first one there, headcollar in one hand and a cup of tea in the other.

As for me, I’m still learning.

Every single day.

Because that’s the thing about keeping horses at home.

Nobody ever has it completely figured out.

There are brilliant days.

There are exhausting days.

There are expensive days.

There are days when you wonder what on earth possessed you.

And then there are the evenings when the sun is setting, the horses are quietly grazing, everything is peaceful, and you realise…

You wouldn’t swap this life for anything.

That’s why I created Keeping Horses at Home.

Not because I have all the answers.

But because after nearly four decades of living this horse life in one way or another, I’ve realised something.

The best thing we can do is share it with people who truly understand.

So whether you’re here because you keep horses at home, or you’re dreaming of the day you finally can, then welcome. You’re among friends!