I have always had a love of animals, and since I could walk and talk I expressed it at every opportunity.  In fact I’m sure one of my first words was spoken as I tottered up to a paddock and pointed at the “horsie” behind the fence…  I grew up in rural England with a cat called Sugar, and a desperate desire to own a horse.  I bugged my poor Mum for years to buy me a pony. Despite finding the word ‘horse’ diligently written on her shopping list every week, she never relented. I finally realised my dream of owning a horse when I was 25 and bought my retired Standardbred, Tommy.

After some time working with horses in England and travelling in Europe, I came to Australia on a working holiday visa in 2000. Half way through my travels I landed late at night on Hobart’s little airstrip and almost instantly fell in love.   As I have since found out, Tasmania is just one of those places – it draws you in and it’s hard to leave! Nearly 10 years later and I am still here, living in the Channel with my partner Leigh and my dog, cat and two horses.

In 2005, after running a Backpacker Tourism business for four years, it was time for a change, and time to evaluate what it is that I really wanted to do in life.  I came back to my love of animals, and it was at this time that I established At Home Pet Sitters.  It has been a fantastic experience, and the business now employs 5 pet sitters and has over 300 clients.

The Animal Family

This is Jake – also known as ‘Jake the Peg’, ‘Peg’, ‘Muffin’ & ‘Monkey’.

Picked up as a stray in South Hobart, Jake spent three months at the Dog’s Home before he captured my heart. I first saw his face through the bars of a kennel, with his nose pressed to the wire, trying to lick my hand. It was love at first sight. Jake has been with me for six years now and is never far from my side. He is getting quite famous, having been in the Mercury twice, and was the cover dog on the Dog’s Home Calendar in 2006. He has cemented his fame by being the face of At Home Pet Sitters, appearing on our business cards, notepads and fridge magnets. He lives on my desktop and in my heart, and he’s the best dog in the world.

This is Tommy (Mr. Handsome)

Tommy came to me in poor condition and with an attitude problem. He also came with physical and emotional scars from a past that I know very little about. I rode him for a while before it became clear that he was not comfortable being ridden, so I retired him. He currently lives a life of leisure in the paddock as a companion to Fanny.

Tom has changed immeasurably since I got him, and from a rocky start, we now have a great relationship. He was the very first horse I could call my own and therefore the fulfillment of a long held dream. He will have a home with me forever.

Fantasy, affectionaly known as ‘Fanny’

Fanny was the horse that never should have been! I was earnestly trying my best to have a horse free year to concentrate on my business, when I went along to give a talk at a riding club and casually mentioned that I would like to get into endurance riding…. Within 5 days I met Fantasy at her owners property and promptly fell in love. She is the sweetest horse I have ever met.  I leased her for several years and bought her in 2009.  She has been my first experience of working with a young horse, and has been a great teacher. She is an awesome little horse who I am very close to and hope to start some more serious endurance riding with her in 2011.

This is the newest addition to the family – ‘Pesky’ – here in his superman chair and cuddling up to Jake!

He crawled into my life in early 2009 as a stray and starving kitten. My dog Jake chased him from the wood pile to the house; at which point he started living underneath the verandah. He was so hungry that he came, shaking and terrified, onto the deck to have some food, with Jake and I sitting only a metre away. He subsequently made a swift retreat! After a week of leaving food out for him, I set up camp on the verandah one night and stayed there until he came out (nearly 2 hours!) and carried him inside. Since then he has blossomed into a very confident cat and fully lives up to his name! Even Jake enjoys cuddling up to him occasionally…

Pesky is almost never referred to by his real name and has instead simply become “kitty, kitty, meow, meow” due to his extremely vocal nature!