Frances has been a keen Fell Pony enthusiast since the mid-1990s. She started out riding ponies at the Wolds Stud in Leicestershire, making the annual pilgrimage to Cumbria each year for the Stallion show and/or the Breed Show, and to ride on the Fell & visit semi-feral herds. After marrying Gordon, an experienced horseman, they moved to Cumbria for a time & combined their enthusiasm for British native breeds by choosing the very best of bloodlines & ponies to start a Fell Pony Stud of their own, alongside showing and riding the ponies.