Who’s Who?

This page has been added to help identify critters and humans when we talk about them in our updates. Hope it helps!

Jess & Dan:

These are the main (but not only) humans who are regularly on the farm. Jess (that’s me!) usually does all the updating and recording, cutting and releasing, writing and photographing.

Dan does almost all of the doing. DIY, landscaping, plastering and most of the decorating. Technically we both work together on our businesses, but really Dan is now 95% full time on the farm, unless I need him, in which case he reverts back to being part of our office team!

We also have wonderful team members who are occasionally on site, as well as fantastic family and friends. Farmer Ryan, Farmer Ben, Allan the Fencer and more are other humans who are with us every step of the way.

Jess is a well-known photography tutor, an international multi-award-winning photographer (of mostly animals), a photographic judge for international competitions, alongside being an accomplished graphic designer.

Dan is known to all as DanDan and he helps with both sides of what we do. We work as a team every single day, personally and professionally, and don’t do “normal” things.

For the following animal introductions, “Work” is their day job of being literally expert level models for photographers to work with whilst improving their craft. For the dogs, each goes through hundreds of hours of training from 8 weeks to 2 years old to result in keen, happy and reliable subjects in any location, anywhere in the world.

Our Dogs:

  • Lemon

    Lemmy is a 4 year old working labrador bitch who is a super sweet rescue dog! She’s historically been really tricky to live with in a house, but she has THE most amazing brain. She learns like lightning (genuinely, FAR faster than Ren or the collies did!) and will never, ever be a couch potato.

    Lemon isn’t a bad dog, she’s just a dog that needs a job, and whether that is finding things I’ve (Jess) misplaced or working with me as I do my job, she’s up for it anytime, anywhere. She gives 110% to whatever she’s asked to do and is incredibly trainable. She learns the good and the bad at the same rapid speed, so you have to be on it when she’s around!

    We knew Lemon and have worked with her before she came to us here, and we’re really happy she’s safe in our home forevermore (where, FYI, she’s not a problem at all!).

  • Alfie

    Alf is sorely outnumbered by females now, so him and Dan have to stick together as the only men residing at home! Alfie is a 10-year-old border collie who has been with Jess through thick and thin.

    He’s “Mr Reliable” and works wonderfully under pressure from the biggest stages with hundreds of eyes on him, to the middle of a city centre working off lead. He’s a real “people person” and loves to meet and greet, he enjoys showing off his repertoire of tricks and behaviours, and he’s happiest working in drizzle… Odd, we know.

    He worked his first photography workshop at 16 weeks old, but even before that, and ever since, he’s worked with students most weeks too. Alfie has helped millions (literally) of people with their photography, including thousands in person.

    He was also Jess’ first serious agility dog, and he took her up the grades quickly after they ironed out some communication issues. He lives to be with Jess, in any way shape or form, and always tries to be a good boy.

  • Bryt

    Bryt (or Beanie/Beansprout) is a Working Cocker Spaniel and arrived with us during Covid lockdowns, whilst Jess was teaching an online workshop on photography viewing sessions, and she grew up on YouTube. She’s the funniest, happiest, most energetic dog we have (yes, even compared to Ren!) and she lives to do things – anything.

    She has absolutely zero fears, she goes everywhere at 100mph and she’s built like a breeze block. Solid, with a leg at each corner, she’s a machine when at work and the worlds best snuggle buddy when not.

    She’s from shoot lines from a kennel that breeds exceptional workers, and you can tell in her behaviour. Reliable, unflappable, confident and bold, she’s the perfect example of a working cocker, despite never working a shoot in her life.

  • Zest

    Zee is a 1 year old Australian Shepherd bitch who was a specialist rehome situation for Valgrays Border Collie Rescue (Finn’s rescue ❤️‍🩹). She arrived with us in 2025 and has settled in SO fast.

    She hasn’t had the bestest start and is currently very thin, but she’s bold, bouncy and a real people person, so she’s getting on well!

    Zest hasn’t lived in a house before, and we won’t know for sure if she’s going to enjoy our lifestyle until she comes right out of her shell.

    She’s had a lot of mats removed from her back end so she looks a bit funky right now, but she’s basically a giant puppy, and she is oh so much fun!

  • Renedage

    We’re fairly certain that everyone knows Ren, but if not, Ren is a Belgian Malinois bitch who has had an unsettled start. She came home at the very start of 2024 and most watched her grow up on Ren Diaries, the YouTube vlogs. She’s worked at the Societies in London, The Photography Show at the NEC and ClickLive in Coventry, but then it all went sideways.

    Destined to be Jess’ comeback dog to the world of Agility, Ren’s future was cast into doubt when she collided with a gate at the farm in summer of 2024. After seeking numerous referrals – a saga in itself – we ended up with multiple diagnoses. Elbow and hip dysplasia were found by chance, and she’d sustained a fracture to her scapula, along with extensive tendon damage, from the gate incident.

    After successful stem cell implants, the future looks a little brighter, but climbing up the agility grades won’t be in our future. Instead, our aim is to get her stable, fit and happy, so that she can live an active dogs lifestyle, and perhaps run some canicross with Dan.

Our Cats:

Wallis is a feisty, confident kitten who was abandoned, along with Gromit, at the end of a neighbouring farmer’s driveway. When we were asked if we’d have room for two kittens in need, we obviously said yes. Although the boldest out of the two, Wallis took the longest to tame, perhaps because of her natural fire and spark. She’s completely black from head to toe, and adores her sister.

Gromit is the sweetest kitten we’ve ever met. Black with a tiny smudge on her nose, she’s the smaller of the two and although she hid from the world at first, she knows we mean food now and shouts at me to feed her every time we walk into the room – even if I’ve only been out for 5 minutes. She’s playful and careful, but trusts her sister to make the major decisions.

They’ll both follow you around, join you on dog walks, to check the horses or anything really. They’re both mousing well now, and keep the tiny critters in check site wide.

Our Horses:

  • Tuna

    Tuna has been with our family since 2021 and, medically speaking, she’s been tricky! She is, and always will be, the most intelligent, sweetest and sharpest horse we’ll have, and she likes things done her way, every day. She’s a PRE – Pure Raza Espanola – which basically means she’s a purebred, studbook registered Andalusian. Sassy and spicey in equal measure, she’s absolutely drop dead gorgeous and gets all the “wows” whenever we go out and about.

    That’s not ideal though, because invariably she’ll take a dislike to someone, something or somewhere and throw some mad shapes to cause chaos…

    She’s a great nanny for baby horses, and she’s impeccably mannered in the stable. She dislikes the rain and the wind but loves a big bed and a warm rug. She’s a princess – what can we say.

  • Velia

    Velia is a gangly, ugly duckling of a Knabstrupper who, we hope, will grow into herself with time. She was a bonus horse to come up to Scotland alongside Connie, and they’ve been companions since the start of summer 2024 to make sure they were travelling as friends.

    She is quite well bred, by Houdini at Little Uncle, out of a Danish import mare, who we call Big Bird, from the Middlesom stud. Both her parents are tall, and V needs to grow a fair bit to catch up!

    Velia means “veiled” in latin. Her coat is abnormal for any spotted horse, as she was born a chestnut extended snow-cap with mostly pink skin and no spots. She then turned pure white as a yearling, but as the months go by she develops new spots, including the pigment at skin level. She’s a total mystery, and we don’t know what the unveiling will eventually end up showing.

  • Connie

    Connie was born in April of 2024. She’s by a stallion called Tresaison Leluka, out of Tresaison Gracie. Grace was Jess’ favourite broodmare back when she was living at home, and she had such an inherent sparkle that Tuna is a fairly good comparison! To have the opportunity to have a piece of Grace with us now is really special.

    Connie is a loudly marked leopard spot with the most amazing leg markings. She’s very new to the world but so far is taking everything in her stride. Since birth she’s been very confident, gregarious and a total people-person. She’s a bit like Alf in that way!

    She’s in your pocket and moves like a dream, so we’re super excited to see how she grows up before deciding what the next steps will be here. Warmblood, TB and Knabstrupper lines run through her pedigree, so she could turn her hoof to absolutely anything.

Areas of what’s left of this farm are rented to local farmers for winter stock housing, supplementary grazing, and silage rotations. Over the 2024/25 winter, 776 legs were on site.