No one could question her love for horses. She sacrificed everything – home, personal comfort and her pension. She lived for ten years in a Portakabin in the stables, on hand day and night to comfort and protect her rescued “family.”

Such authentic, uncontrived dedication encourages public response. People who live and breathe for a cause they truly believe in often divide public opinion. She did not have great equine experience and certainly no qualifications.

Some people with such experience and qualifications have questioned her methods. She could be cantankerous, possessive, and her over-sentimentality may have got in the way of stricter professional management. But without Olive, the sanctuary has suffered three years of decline and dwindling funds. It has been pushed almost to the brink of closure.

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Olive was particularly successful at garnering legacies, the life-blood of the sanctuary. So by re-telling Olive’s story, we hope she will once again open hearts and minds to supporting her.

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Since her death, compliance with health and safety regulations and a raft of other management issues including many operational problems, pension provision and other legal obligations, has taken precedence.