My Animals And Other Family

Description

"My Animals and Other Family" by Clare Balding is a funny, brave, tender story of self-discovery. 'I had spent most of my childhood thinking I was a dog, and suspect I had aged in dog years.' Clare Balding grew up in a rather unusual household. Her father a champion trainer, she shared her life with more than 100 thoroughbred racehorses, mares, foals and ponies, as well as an ever-present pack of boxers and lurchers. As a toddler she would happily ride the legendary Mill Reef and take breakfast with the Queen. She and her younger brother came very low down the pecking order. Left to their own devices, they had to learn life's toughest lessons through the animals, and through their adventures in the stables and the idyllic Hampshire Downs. From the protective Candy to the pot-bellied Valkyrie and the frisky Hattie, each horse and each dog had their own character and their own special part to play. The running family joke was that "women ain't people". Clare had to prove them wrong, to make her voice heard - but first she had to make sure she had something to say. "Moving, funny and larger than life". (Michael Morpurgo). "Magical, enchanting, riotously eccentric". ("Daily Mail"). "Funny and unexpectedly wise. Balding has lots of good stories to tell. It is impossible not to admire her honesty". ("Mail on Sunday"). "The reading equivalent of snuggling by the fire with a labrador". ("The Guardian"). Clare Balding is an award-winning broadcaster and writer. She has been a lead presenter for the Olympics, Paralympics, Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games. For more than twelve years, she has hiked across the countryside for the BBC Radio 4 series Ramblings. Clare has presented "Countryfile", "Britain's Hidden Heritage", "Britain By Bike", "Crufts", and "Famous & Fearless", and has appeared on "QI", "Have I Got News for You" and "Sport Relief". She has been voted RTS Sports Presenter of the Year and Racing Broadcaster of the Year. She lives in West London with her partner Alice, their wayward Tibetan Terrier Archie and a cat who couldn't give a damn called Itty. "My Animals and Other Family" is Clare's first book.

Awards

Winner of Specsavers National Book Awards: Autobiography/Biography of the Year 2012.

Author description

CLARE BALDING is an award-winning broadcaster and writer. At the London Olympics of 2012 she was proclaimed a "national treasure'" and acclaimed as the gold medal winning presenter of the Games. She became the face of the BBC's horse racing coverage in 1998, and now works across a wide range of sports for television and radio. She has been a lead TV presenter for the Olympics, Paralympics, Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games. For more than twelve years, she has hiked across the British countryside for the BBC radio series "Ramblings. "In 2012 she was awarded Achievement of the Year at the Women in Film and TV Awards, the Media Award at the Red Hot Women of the Year Awards, was made TV Personality of the Year by Attitude Magazine and won Racing Broadcaster of the Year for the second time. A British newspaper ran the headline, '"Why Can't Everyone Be Clare Balding?" Clare lives in west London with her partner, Alice, their wayward Tibetan terrier, Archie, and their cat, Itty. None of them have shown much interest in any of the awards, which is just fine.