How Countryside Online Dating helped me find a perfect horsey partner

When I returned from Newcastle University in 2007, I was living at home with my parents, building a flock of sheep and all my old friends had left the area. Reality hit pretty hard, but I took the initiative and joined my local hockey and rugby club. My social life went from nothing to hectic in a very short period, but meeting suitable women was not easy.

Going to the local hunt and hunt balls wasn’t an option for meeting anyone new because I grew up with everyone through young farmers. If I were to describe it on Facebook, our relationship status would be “complicated”. It seemed the only nice girls I met were girlfriends of my friends, but at least I knew there were good single people out there — all I had to do was find them.

I remember sitting having a few beers with my mates when one of them pointed out that the only female in the pub was the 80-year-old barmaid Jill. Don’t get me wrong, Jill is great, but surely there is a better way to meet people? Without knowing anything about countryside online dating I jotted on a beer mat that we need a countryside social media website and three months later KissingGates.com was born.

A good example is my parent’s gardener, who was recently divorced when I convinced him to join KissingGates.com. I think that when you get divorced you default to a fight or flight mode — either stay at home and feel sorry for yourself or go out and take advantage of your freedom. Our gardener did the latter and two years later was married to his amazing new partner. who he met through KissingGates.com, so it does work!