Thank you all for the advice.
Madmav- i suspect buying is a while off anyway in reality - I have a 2 and a 3 year old to look after as well as a job, I'm not sure there are that many more hours in the day to be looking after a horse currently. But hopefully in the next 18 months. In the mean...
EEK! Those 12 years have passed quickly. It doesn't seem 5 minutes ago that I was spending all day every day with my beloved pony. But I'm 28 now, with a young family, mortgage and job. Unfortunately the days of pottering about the countryside on my trusty steed had to give way to grown up...