BAD health and foot and mouth did not stop one man and his hinny from trekking 2,000 kilometres to raise funds for charity.

The walk saw David Snelling and his hinny Henry, the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey, trek over the Pyrenees, along a pilgrims' route.

David, from Ivybridge, raised more than £40,000 for the Operation Henry Trust and gave a talk about his adventure to Okehampton U3A at Fairplace Church last week.

His mission came to an abrupt halt after he suffered a stroke, followed by the outbreak of foot and mouth, which restricted the movement of animals in Europe.

'I originally planned the trek to start in April 2000. I love walking and at the time the millennium was upon us, so I thought it would be a great way to celebrate it.'

'Unfortunately I suffered a stroke and so I had to wait a whole year until I was well enough to go.

'I couldn't believe it when the following year foot and mouth struck. It meant I had to wait another year.'

David finally set out on April 2, 2002.

His journey started from Le Puy-en-Velay in central France and finished in Santiago de Compostela, northern Spain.

'I didn't ride Henry, we walked side by side in heats of up to 40 degrees celsius and finally arrived in Santiago de Compostela on July 23 2002,' said David.

The Operation Henry Trust revolves around making grants to three cancer related charities, the Association for International Cancer Research, The Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund and MAcmillan Cancer Support.