Emmaprovement Continues... The first love really is the deepest. Fifteen years later, Emma Cheevers gets back in the saddle again.

At summer camp, when I was eleven, I begged to ride the prettiest horse named BTO (Buck Them Off) for the long trail ride.

Ten minutes in, he lived up to his name. I regained consciousness in a bubbling stream, blood running down my face, my jaw broken and two front teeth sticking straight out.

Six operations and a few months later, I signed myself up for riding lessons at the local stables and began my four-year love affair with horses. Evenings and weekends were spent mucking out stalls, learning to jump and, eventually, teaching the younger kids to ride. I was never happier.

But then boys came along, and most of my free time was spent hanging around the neighbourhood 7-11, hoping Jamie Storrow might finally notice me. Lessons got cancelled, I begged off sick, things got in the way; it's not like I ever actually gave up riding - like any relationship, you never know it's going to be the last time.

In retrospect, I think trading the stables for boys might have been the biggest mistake of my life. So, here I am, outside Hyde Park Stables, in a borrowed hat and boots, slightly terrified of Albert, the 16-hand Bay the instructor leads out for me to ride.

Horses, like men, can smell fear, so I gather my courage before a seriously awkward mount. I needn't have worried. Albert is everything a girl could want in a ride. The strong, silent type - he may be big, but he's a big softie. And very good at taking orders.