Carole Smith was born and raised in London and Hertfordshire. Her parents moved to Milford On Sea when she was 17 and it was there, in 1985, that she met her husband Simon, who is ‘Forest born and bred'. As well as falling for an amazing man, Carole also fell in love with The New Forest. Carole and Simon have been married for 36 years and have two grown-up children and two granddaughters.

 

Carole is now retired, having spent her working life in the family business as Financial Director. As a child, Carole describes herself as "horse mad" and would take every opportunity to pester her parents to take her to the New Forest to see the ponies. Carole has always been a horse rider and as an adult had the joy of owning several horses and feels extremely privileged to have been able to ride every day in the Forest. While she does not ride anymore Carole still spends a lot of time walking in the Forest where it is her privilege every day to see the ponies, deer, cattle and other animals roaming the Forest throughthe changing seasons.

 

Carole's family, especially her granddaughters, are a source of pure joy to her, so during lockdown, like many other families pulled apart, she found it very difficult being isolatedfrom them. Their oldest granddaughter, Chloe, loved standing at the window watching the ponies go by, so with this in mind Carole started to write a story that she could share over FaceTime. Carole used the quirky characteristics of the ponies and horses she has grown to know and love over decades, and before long she had her six main characters, each with their own personality. And The New Forest Tales were born!