"This throws into doubt the rest of the comments made by this 'traveller', that he's a 'horse breeder', not something that can be managed well if you are on the move, where do you keep the mare when she's heavily in foal, how do you manage the stallion, where is the foal born - at the side of the road. As for a horse drowning if its ears go under the water - not true."

So how much do you know about travellers who breed horses? There are plenty of them. Just because you're a traveller doesn't mean you don't own land, nor that the horses you have with you at the time are the only ones you own. George rents a field near my village from a local farmer, co-owns a piece of land near Doncaster with another traveller, and also has some land (not sure if it's rented or owned) in the Vale of Belvoir. That's where he keeps his horses - and he has a fair few. He also owns more than one vardo, and has various places where he keeps the ones he's not currently travelling with. I know this is true - i've seen at least two of them myself.

You can put "traveller" in brackets all you like. He's the genuine article. I was looking at his family photos last weekend - they go back generations. I met his sister on Saturday, and his nephew on Sunday.

Consequently, I know who he is. But I don't know who you are, PA, so I know who I choose to believe.

By the way, we discussed Appleby again. Conclusions? Well, there weren't any. George deplores the attitude of the younger generation, yet can't see any obvious solution. Outside intervention would be met with hostility, and there's no obvious group within the travelling community who could police it without causing the equivalent of civil war.

Not particularly promising.