ALL creatures great and small will gather in a North Yorkshire village this weekend - but a preacher on horseback is likely to steal the show.

The Reverend David Eyles will arrive on his three-year-old thoroughbred gelding, Trinity, at Ripley's pet service on Sunday and will deliver his sermon from the saddle.

Mr Eyles, who is priest- in-charge at Markington, near Ripon, will preach the morning sermon at South Stainley.

He will then ride Trinity to Ripley, just off the A61 between Ripon and Harrogate.

"Ripley's pet service has been very popular for years now," said organiser, the Reverend Stephen Brown, priest-in-charge at Ripley with Burnt Yates.

"All kinds of animals are brought for blessing. On one occasion we had a stick insect, then a newborn foal.

"And I'll never forget Archie the owl - sadly no longer with us - who could well have been the prototype for the Harry Potter stories," said Mr Brown.

"If the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, could tour the whole country and preach the gospel on horseback then the journey into Ripley will be a cinch," he said of his colleague.

The service will start at 10.45am.