TWO friends who set up a livery business have branched out into buying and selling horses.

Victoria Goodall, 22, and Rhona Smith, 25, of RV Equine, in Romaldkirk, Teesdale, make regular trips to Ireland to find horses for their business.

RV Equine was set up last June, and the horse trading offers a unique service in the North-East as well as providing an extra facet to the friends' business.

Miss Goodall said: "It totally came by chance. A friend of ours asked us to sell a horse and we managed to get it sold within three days and realised it could be quite a good spin- off for the business."

Although other stables sell horses, Miss Goodall believes their service is unique because they can find horses to meet the particular requirements of a rider and can break and school the horse.

She said: "By travelling to Ireland you can go to stables where there are 50 or 60 horses, which is something you just don't get in this country.

"At this time of year a lot of horses don't need to be inside, so selling horses keeps us ticking over when it's quiet."

The pair have converted an extra barn into stables for the new horses and created a dedicated yard for the new side of their business.

The pair can now accommodate up to 22 horses.