Michelle Holland

A truly heart-warming tale of a little girl who falls in love with the horse that no one can get near, let alone want. As told by thirteen-year-old Emily.Bella bites. She has not had the best of starts in life and to be honest doesn't have the brightest of futures, the way she's behaving, but then Emily comes to help out at the stables.Emily dearly wishes for a horse of her own. So much so, she has been dreaming about it. About a specific horse. So imagine her surprise when she goes to help out at the local stables only to find the horse of her dreams in the paddock! Unfortunately, the horse belongs to someone else and isn't the friendliest of creatures and when she first meets Emily, takes a chunk out of her arm!Will Emily win Bella over?Will Bella's owner agree to sell?To find out you will have to read The Adventures of Bella & Emily.Michelle runs a sanctuary for New Forest ponies and profits go toward the upkeep. Help horses while helping yourself to a dose of heart-warming reading. 

I live in Brighton and became passionate about pony rescue after taking on a neglected New Forest pony 31 years ago who I called Bella. What really touched my heart and was truly priceless, was the transformation over a one-year period - after some hard work and understanding Bella turned into a healthy & trusting pony.

In 1995 I opened my own sanctuary for New Forest ponies and saved and rehomed over 57 from slaughter over a 5-year period. This was so rewarding and totally voluntary and I had to raise over £80,000 a year to keep it going. I took on Chelsea (alias Bella who is the star and inspiration behind 6 of my books. She was only 4 months old, riddled with lice and worms and would attack any man who came near her. After plenty of patience and tender loving care we formed a truly awesome and special relationship, and I decided I would keep her myself! I dealt with a lot of difficult ponies; young foals who had sadly been taken away from their Mum’s too early. Wild mares, and many sick foals who needed calm and understanding and ongoing veterinary care. Body language played a very important part and I had over 30 volunteers helping on a weekly rota, this is how I met my best friend, Hannah Evans.