I RODE from a young age, but wasn't taught until I was much older when I had lessons from my mother's friend Count Robert Orssich. There was no traffic and we were free, no one checked up on us; and we'd ride unaccompanied for hours. I started in a basket saddle on a Shetland while being led from my mother's hunter.
My second pony, Rosie, cost £6 and arrived on the same day as my rocking horse, which cost £12 from Harrods.
I taught her to rear by applying the aids to rein-back. At
