‘I thought if one person like me could learn more about horses, that would be brilliant’: how This Esme’s drive to make riding more accessible drew in millions of fans

Esme Higgs needs little introduction in the equestrian world. Known to millions as This Esme, the 23-year-old has been carving out a unique space in the digital landscape for the past decade, making informative yet relatable content about horses.

What started as a pony-mad teenager’s video diary has evolved into a full-blown equestrian media identity – but at its core, Esme’s mission remains the same: to educate, entertain, and inspire a love of horses.

Now with a book series (more on the forthcoming fourth instalment later), a podcast, and several ambassador roles under her belt, Esme continues to champion horses and the people who love and care for them.

In the run-up to Horse & Hound’s first junior special (in shops from Thursday, 5 June), Esme opens up about the early days of her channel, what life with ponies has taught her, and why she believes accessibility and welfare should be at the heart of the horse world’s future.

Horse & Hound’s interview with This Esme

H&H: How did horses come into your life?

Esme: I was very lucky to grow up in the countryside, where the local riding school used to ride past my mum and dad’s house. My parents were completely non-horsey, but I started having lessons at the riding school at a very young age of five.

H&H: What were your horsey dreams in the early days?

Esme: I just always wanted to feel like a proper horse person. I had a lot of impostor syndrome being born into a non-horsey family though I was very lucky to get my own pony when I was only eight or nine.

I went to Pony Club, but it was the little things like my friends’ parents riding their ponies while they were at school, so at the weekend they’d be lovely and well-schooled. I could see a lot of my peers had a leg-up with their parents helping them or having a string of many different ponies, when that wasn’t a reality for me. From a young age, it was all down to me.

So I was all about wanting to be a proper horse person – competing wasn’t the be-all and end-all because I didn’t see a pathway where I could be successful. What I loved most was forming a partnership with my horses. I had an incredible bond with my first pony, Mickey, who we sadly don’t have any more. And that, for me, is worth a lot more.

H&H: How did the YouTube content start?

Esme: I posted a few videos of my Connemara pony Casper, who I got when I was 11 or 12. My parents’ budget for a pony at that stage was not very big, so he was very green. Looking back, it probably wasn’t the best combination – a young child trying to produce a young pony – but it was all our budget could stretch to. But Casper was actually the reason I started my YouTube channel because I would post videos of our progress.

It started like a video diary because my phone wasn’t very good, so when I’d run out of storage, I thought “I’ll post it on to YouTube. It’ll be safe there. I don’t have to worry about storage problems on my phone.” And it also meant that my grandparents and family who lived far away could see what I was getting up to with the horses.

I never imagined that it would become a full-time job – I never thought there’d be enough horse people out there to watch my videos.

H&H: How influential is your own background in the content you create?

Esme: I guess it’s why I ended up deciding to create my YouTube channel and my books as well. I felt that the pony books I read were often about people born into a horsey family, growing up with their own ponies.

When I started making videos, “how to tack up a horse” was one of my first because I was thinking of people who weren’t from a horsey background, maybe just learning to ride at a riding school. I thought that even if just one person out there that was like me could watch this video and it could help them learn more about horses, that would be brilliant.

With the Starlight Stables Gang, I wanted to create a book where people aren’t from a horsey background, they come from different backgrounds and families, and all come together with the common love of horses. That was really important to me, because I felt like there weren’t many children’s books like that on the market.

H&H: Do you compete at all?

Esme: I used to, but since doing my channel, I haven’t really had the opportunity. When there are horse shows on, I tend to be working at them – presenting, doing social media coverage, meet and greets or book signings.

Maybe I’ll go back to it one day, but at the moment I’m so busy doing so many other different things that I’m just enjoying my horses, taking them to arena hires, or for hacks and gallops in the forest.

But also, I think there are so many people out there that are competing and doing an excellent job at it. I know I’m not going to end up at the Olympics. That’s something I wanted to get across with my channel. When I was growing up, the top riders you would look up to would be Olympians. For most people, that’s not possible but still to own a horse is to be in a very privileged position.

So my channel is a bit more real: me at home at the stables, mucking out, basic horse care. And for a lot of young children, the dream is just to be able to loan a pony or own a horse one day. Their dreams aren’t to go to the Olympics.

So I think it’s important to show not only that, yes, it’s super fun going out competing, but also there are so many things that you can do with horses, with non-ridden ones as well.

H&H: So what is your favourite thing to do with horses?

Esme: I would say, honestly, just hanging out with them because I’m very lucky that they’re at my parents’ farm. I can see them from the window right now.

And as I’ve got older, I’ve really appreciated how incredible hacking is. I’m very lucky that it’s not too far away to take my horses to the beach, which is lovely on a summer’s day, or take them to the forest or on the hills.

A lot of people forget how important it is for enrichment for horses, to give them that incredible life and experience. I know hacking is definitely among my horses’ favourite things to do.

H&H: How many horses do you have?

Esme: I have my main horse, Joey, who I’ve been producing since he was five and he’s now 11. Then I have my Connemara Casper, who’s a bit older now, so he’s my happy hacker. And we have little Duke, who is a companion pony from World Horse Welfare.

H&H: With your high profile comes a lot of responsibility, how do you deal with that?

Esme: This is something I realised from a very young age. When I was about 16 and had been posting videos for a couple of years an American family emailed me. They said they weren’t interested in horses initially but their daughter started watching my videos because she liked animals. After a couple of years watching my channel, they’d moved from the city to the countryside and now have horses at a ranch.

Their whole life has changed just because of my channel. It was then that it really hit me that, “oh, wow, these videos are affecting people’s lives”. It’s incredible to hear of all the positive stories people tell me that come just from watching a girl on YouTube talk about ponies.

So while I was still a child, I realised that I needed to be really responsible. There’s a bit of pressure, but it’s also a lovely thing because I’ve been able to talk about the charities that I work for, such as World Horse Welfare, and to show the positives of owning horses.

H&H: Tell us more about the Starlight Stables Gang and your upcoming book.

Esme: They are stories with real-life inspiration, for instance World Horse Welfare and a charity riding school, Team Tutsham and the Riding for the Disabled Association – with kids from lots of different backgrounds.

A lot of pony books are a bit fluffy, but I like my books to be about real-life issues. They’re not only for people who love horses and come from a horsey background, but also for the child that knows nothing about horses but loves animals, and can maybe see a bit of themselves in the characters and the struggles they go through.

One of the main characters, Ellie, is a wheelchair user – it was important for me to show that horse riding can be for everyone. I’ve got to say she’s my favourite character! She’s loud, bubbly, very confident, and cheers up the rest of the gang when things are hard. That’s a lovely thing to have in a friend.

There’s a little bit of me in all of the characters, but probably most of all in Summer – we’re both dyslexic. Puffin helped me pick a dyslexic-friendly font to help children like me! And I’m very lucky to have had an author as good as Jo Cotterill to collaborate and help me on this journey.

H&H: Where can we see you over the summer?

Esme: I’ve got a new series coming out this summer, the Pony Care series. I’m carrying on with my podcast, which I love, as well as a bit of work outside of the horse world – in fashion and the beauty industry.

I am also working at a lot of horse shows this summer: Aachen and the European Championships at Blenheim.

It’s exciting to have lots of different projects – and a few secret ones that I can’t talk about!

H&H: You sound so busy – do you still have time for your horses?

Esme: I’m very lucky that the way that my work works is that if I am away for a horse show, it’s only a day or two. So those days my horses have days off and every other day I’m in the office at home or at the stables filming. So I can usually ride six days a week. Any chance I get to ride, I’m riding!

• The Pony Whisperer is the fourth book in the Starlight Stables Gang series, published by Puffin. It is due to be released in autumn 2025 – look out for the H&H review.

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