Over forty years ago I received, and answered, a letter that seemed totally unimportant at the time but which was to bring into my life a wonderful animal, a mule called Pepita who is the subject of my latest book, PEPITA – THE STORY OF A FRIENDSHIP. Such is the strangeness of life, a seemingly casual incident can have far reaching results.

I had written, out of the depth of my ignorance, a piece for Hoofs & Horns on mules. All my knowledge of them was what an old man I knew as a child, dismissed as 'book larning'. I was living in Tasmania at the time and to my surprise I had a letter from someone in Victoria who bred both ponies and donkeys asking advice on breeding a mule. I have no idea what I told her but it must have been right because just over a year later I had another letter enclosing a small black and white snap of a mule foal. Four years on when I, too, was living in Victoria I received a letter offering me this mule. I didn't hesitate to accept. And so began a wonderful friendship spanning 28 years.

In this photo she is 30 years old.

The cover, opening words and SPECIAL PRE-PUBLICATION offer are on this website. I wrote the following poem after her death; it expresses what she meant to me.

MORE THAN A MULE

Just a mule – my head tells me,
And your photo confirms
That you indeed had long ears,
A tail and four hooves.
But I remember your eyes
And the friendship we shared.
You were not ‘Just’ anything.
Your intelligence, humour, and
Big, loving heart
Added up to a special soul;
An eternal Spirit who, God willing,
Has found green pasture,
Shady trees and old friends.
Enjoy – till I come looking for you.