My pride and joy is Libby, my pet goat. She’s a real character and I love everything about her.
About six years ago, my dad David, who trains in Gloucestershire, heard that there were two pygmy goats available from a petting zoo nearby.
The owners were looking for a good home for them.
I went see them when they were about six months old and they were really cute so I took them on. It just happened by chance.
They are both about six or seven years old now – I think they are sisters – but Lulu is more like a farm animal whereas Libby is a proper pet.
I live with my parents but they are very animal-friendly and very understanding.
Libby is house-trained and will come into the house and I will feed her lettuce from the fridge.
If I am watching the racing on tv, she will just wander in and stand next to me.
Libby is far more outgoing than Lulu. She is really affectionate but she is also really feisty with a jealous streak.
If I am stroking one of our dogs, she will run straight over and try to fight the dog away, using her horns. She is basically saying to me, “Stroke me instead.”
Rather embarrassingly, about eight months ago I got a tattoo of Libby on my wrist – that’s how much she means to me.
I am 22 now and have ridden 40 winners on the Flat but I am quite tall, at 5 ft 8ins, and my weight started to creep up, so I have decided to ride over jumps from now on.
I hope that Libby will be my lucky charm this coming season – she certainly was last season for the family because we had a great day in March when The Conditional, trained by my dad, won the Ultima Handicap Chase on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival.
This year I am going to mainly ride for my dad while I learn the basics of schooling jumpers. Then I will hopefully broaden out after that.
Right now, I am considering breeding Libby: I am currently looking for a suitable male pygmy goat.
It’s now or never for her as a mother: you wouldn’t breed a female pygmy goat much later than seven. They should live until they are about 13 or 14.
The plan is to sell the kids (baby goats) on – but knowing me I will just end up with six or seven more goats that will be running around the place!
We have lots of pets including four dogs, a cat and about 15 chickens. I love all our animals but Libby is definitely my favourite.
Lulu will sleep outside or in the hay but Libby likes to sleep in the dog kennel – she has her own bed with a duvet.
I realise that Libby is an unusual pet but her behaviour is much more like that of a dog than a goat or another farm animal. She’s just a great pet.
