Many people know Martin Clunes as a talented actor who has starred in a multitude of great TV shows, such as the long-running sitcom Men Behaving Badly and the ITV drama series Doc Martin.
What fans might not know is that the 58-year-old star loves horses and has another life away from the cameras, living on a farm with his wife Philippa and their mighty Clydesdale horses. He discovered his love of horses thanks to his wife and their daughter Emily, aged 22, who are both keen horsewomen.
He became president of the British Horse Society in June 2011 and showed off his own horses when he appeared on the Lorraine show on ITV in 2017, to publicise the Changing Lives Through Horses initiative.
Love of animals
The Wimbledon-born star has a love of all animals and has made numerous TV nature documentaries.
Making his name in the BBC comedy series, No Place Like Home, in which he played medical student Nigel Crabtree from 1983 to 1985, he then went on to star in one of his most famous roles, hapless waster Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly, in 1992, for which he won a BAFTA for best comedy performance in 1996.
A respected presenter of animal documentaries since 2008, when in Martin Clunes: A Man and his Dogs, he set out to discover the relationship between dogs and humans that has existed for centuries, his epic journey took him to the United States, Africa and Australia to meet the wild relatives of our pet dogs.
The famous supporter of charity the Dog Rescue Federation has three dogs himself - Jimmy the Jack Russell, cocker spaniel Heidi and Penny, a Jack Russell-Chihuahua cross. He loves his dogs so much; they are regular visitors on set when he's filming Doc Martin.
Ironically, in the drama about GP Dr Martin Ellingham, played by Clunes, the title character doesn't like dogs at all and finds them irritating, which couldn't be further from the truth!
Love for horses
Clunes made his first documentary about horses, the ITV mini-series Horsepower, in 2010. It looked at people's relationship with the horse over the years. He then made a second equine documentary, Heavy Horsepower, in 2013. The programmes reflected the star's own love of all things equine.
He and Philippa share their farm in Beaminster, Dorset, with many heavy horses, including his beloved Clydesdales. His first two horses, Ronnie and Bruce, starred in his Heavy Horsepower documentary.
In fact, the two Clydesdales, from Fife, introduced him to a new mode of transport when he was banned from driving for six months after totting up 12 penalty points for speeding in 2013. He began travelling by horse-drawn cart and found he enjoyed it - after getting over the initial shock of driving so slowly!
The Clydesdales are known as the gentle giants of the equine world. Ronnie and Bruce are the star attractions of the annual charity dog and horse show, Buckham Fair, which Martin and Philippa have run every August since 2008 to raise money for worthy causes in their local district.
Horse shows
Philippa is a talented dressage rider who has taken part in shows and their daughter Emily learned to ride as a child. Martin decided he wanted to join his wife and daughter on horseback, but was amazed at how quickly he came to love the world of horse-riding.
He said in his younger days, he would have laughed at anyone who said he'd be driving a seven-ton carriage pulled by his own two Clydesdale horses. Now, he can't imagine doing anything else and the couple have 12 horses at their farm, including Shetland ponies at the opposite end of the size spectrum!
Martin enjoys attending equine events as a spectator and is also learning how to handle working horses with a view to using them at the family farm.
Riding charity
The Changing Lives Through Horses initiative, run by the British Horse Society, is close to his own heart. It was launched to change and improve the lives of disengaged 16 to 24-year-olds, many of whom aren't in education, training or employment.
Research shows 20% of young adults and 10% of children have a diagnosable mental health condition and Changing Lives Through Horses is aimed at reaching out to them, regardless of their background, to help them develop new skills.
The BHS recognises that working with horses can help young people to develop unique life skills that will last for the rest of their lives. Described as a celebration of horses, the scheme is aimed at aiding the young participants' development and helping them to return to education or employment.
Martin is a personal supporter of the scheme. In an interview on the Lorraine show, he said, "We know that horses are great healers and they give people a lot of confidence, especially people with trust issues who have been let down.
"Horses will never lie to you. They need a lot from you. It teaches kids all sorts of stuff that they don't necessarily get exposed to. If they're not thriving in a conventional environment, it really is proven that this helps them get better."
The programme helps young people to develop key life skills through working with horses including confidence, communication, relationships, responsibility, teamwork and personal achievements.
It doesn't just involve riding horses, it means grooming them and mucking out the stables too, providing an alternative learning environment.
Horse training
Martin has been learning how to train his horses using a "clicker", in the same way as dogs are trained.
For his 50th birthday, Philippa gave him a very special present: a three-day horse trekking experience, riding Clydesdales in Cumbria. He has fond memories of the experience, describing how they ended the trek by galloping along miles and miles of sand in a race along the beach.
He says, "There's something about a heavy horse’s stoicism, honesty, size and reliability that just gets to me."
Horses help prison inmates
Martin is also a supporter of a local project run by the Horse Course charity founder, Harriet Laurie, who uses specially-trained horses to interact with disruptive prison inmates to try and reform their behaviour.
He says the inmates have a natural resistance to authority, but when they are put in a round training pen with a horse, "the horse will win" unless the prisoners modify their behaviour. He explains that if the inmate is aggressive, the horse will walk away; if they are anxious, the horse will ignore them, so the only way to engage with the horse is to remain calm and focused.
A study of the prison inmates involved in the horse therapy revealed disciplinary hearings decreased by 74% after they completed the equine course.
In 2015, Clunes was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to charity, drama and the community in Dorset.