Elisabeth Easther talks to Laura Douglas, CEO of Real Country
When people ask about my childhood, I always say how lucky I was to have a rural upbringing. To be able to do things like go out for the day by myself on my pony when I was 7. I'd take a packed lunch and Mum would say I had to be home in time for dinner.
When I was in my 20s, my boyfriend was a professional rugby player and when he got a contract in Dublin, I followed him over. In Ireland I worked for a steeplechase jockey, exercising and training horses to keep them fit for wealthy owners. I'd grown up hunting with hounds and hares, but over there they chase stags, and their horses are bred to jump things you wouldn't believe. It was terrifying, these big powerful horses galloping over huge hedges. I was brought up on horses but this was next level, but I just had to grit my teeth and do it.
When we moved to Port Elizabeth in South Africa, the rugby club was quite dodgy. Neither of us had a work visa and every three months we had to leave South Africa to get another stamp on our passports. I remember one trip, going to Zimbabwe for a week, I was at the airport, and they noticed my visa had expired three days earlier. They wanted to deport me, but I had a job that was paying me cash. So I was in this little room with all these intimidating officers — but I'd been there a year at this point — so I said: "Be real. How much?" And they said: "4000 rand". I said: "Take me to the ATM." I gave them the money, they let me go and I went to Zimbabwe and got another three-month stamp.
In Zimbabwe, we decided to go canoeing down the Zambezi River. The river is full of hippopotamuses but you don't see them because they're swimming under your canoe. Then you spot these two round ears and this big round head pops up beside you and the guide says: "Just keep paddling, don't stop". But I wanted to take a photo and he says: "No, these are the most dangerous animals on earth".
