About the Author

It would be very difficult for an artist, no matter how talented, to develop such wonderful characterisations of both horses and horse people without being directly involved with them but John Tickner undoubtedly knew his subject. Hours spent hunting in Kent as a young man must have given Tickner plenty of cartoon material but he always regretted not being able to ride for often. A writer as well as an artist, John Tickner also edited a Kentish farm and country magazine, and his memoirs "Leopards in the Cellar" recounted his ties with South Africa - in World War II he served with the South African Rifles in Burma. John Tickner (1913-1997) lived in Kent and Dorset but he and his wife Barbara finally settled in Hereford participating in and enjoying country life.