"We did a round of recruitment in the summer," recalls Simmers. "We brought all the candidates to spend time with the kids in the woods and set up a tarpaulin with three camping chairs and our clipboards. That was where we did the interviews." This made it immediately clear who was suitable for the job and who would go running back to carpet and central heating land without a backwards glance..

Sir Guy cleared his throat. "The Other Pony Club," he began in a quiet, insistent voice, "That's us. We have 500 members worldwide, about 90 in this country." Those members pay pounds 60 a day for clandestine horseplay. The book follows the show's first season, from the ditsy host and control freak producer to the contestant about to see his bachelor pad go under the knife. Will the show get picked up for a second season? Will that hunky (if slightly cranky) carpenter turn out to be a nice guy after all? There's never much doubt, of course, but watchin