Melissa is running to help horse welfare

In August 2007, Melissa rescued a bay gelding which had endured a long journey from Spain to France in horrific conditions as part of a consignment of 12 horses sent to a fattening farm before going on to Italy to be slaughtered for meat.

Uge, whose passport said he was 12, but vets have since said he is more likely now to be in his twenties, was in a pitiful condition. Today, he lives a happy and contented life near to Melissa's home, having blossomed under her care.

She said:"He has a lovely temperament. He really is very special. Unfortunately there are still many the horses suffering the fate for which he was destined. They are transported in appalling conditions, in lorries with no partitions, with foals in with mares and stallions, many of them injured in the journey. They have little water."

Since Melissa brought Uge back to Findon, she has been a staunch supporter of World Horse Welfare and its campaign to end this cruelty. She has held tack sales to raise hundreds of pounds for the organisation but has now set her sights on raising a further 500 through the marathon.

She said: " I have never run before, but I needed a new challenge and this is it. I am training five days a week when my four-year-old daughter, Sascha is at playgroup, I ride my bicycle and run, doing a lot of hillwork and last Friday I did an eight-mile run as part of the preparation for the 26 mile marathon route."