I'd been very specific on the phone - 'I'm looking for an 8-10 year old schoolmaster with good basic training - and it must be a gelding.' I'm passionate about Iberian horses and the time had come to look for horse of my own.

As it turned out, I couldn't have called at a better time...

Kate was just off to Portugal to look at horses to bring back for clients and she and Freddie would be back at the end of next week to run a clinic and we could come along and see what Bluehorse was about. So, our late summer camping holiday suddenly had a destination and a purpose and my partner Jon, the two dogs and I headed off to Cornwall for a week of walking and anticipation!

Bosnieves is a very special place - a lovely mix of classical riding and natural horsemanship ideals in an informal and friendly atmosphere - I felt immediately at home!

We spent two days watching clinics and riding (I had to have my grin surgically extracted after riding Kate's beautifully schooled gelding Quiebro).

So I suppose it was inevitable that, whilst watching videos of the horses that Kate had seen in Portugal, she remembered 'the gelding' she had seen - beautiful paces, excellent basic training but...only 5. If I was interested, he could come over on the lorry in two weeks time with the others... and I was, very interested. Having been gelded early on, a rarity in Spain and Portugal, he would fit in more easily with the mixed herd he would join.

After a very thorough vetting, phone calls to all and sundry (was I doing the right thing - he's only 5, shouldn't I be going for an older horse?) and deliberations with Kate - (thanks for the counselling, Kate), we bought him.

So why did I buy a horse that I hadn't seen, from a video, from people I had just met? Well sometimes things just seem to be right and after 2 days at Bluehorse, seeing how Kate and Freddie operate, I decided that I liked the way they do things and that I trusted them. As I needed help to buy the right horse, I decided it might as well be with their help.

So Tordo duly arrived in Cornwall with a lorry load of his friends in early October. After a month of acclimatisation to wind, rain, mud and the British way of doing things, he made the journey to his new home in Wales. Two months on, we are enjoying getting to know each other and he is settling in with the other horses and charming everyone he meets!

Tordo is exactly as Kate and Freddie described him - a very sensitive horse with a good mind and a sweet nature. Bluehorse take the future of the horses they sell very seriously and I know they have chosen me for Tordo as much as they have decided Tordo is suitable for me. I know I have a huge amount to learn, but through Bluehorse, I've not only got a fantastic horse, I've also gained a new group of friends who want to share the journey with me.

Sarah Tindall