MY NAME is Matilda and I am 11 years old.

I would like to tell the lady who thinks children are growing up in a materialistic world, "Living in a material world", (WT, January 6) that I'm not.

I live on a country farm, have not many toys, no computer, don't watch much TV, but have three chickens, three guinea pigs - soon to be four - a few cows, two guinea fowls with nine babies and some horses, one that I am currently breaking in.

He's awesome and he's the first horse I've ever broken in.

My mum wakes me up at 6.30am every morning and we go to work the young horse before my little sisters wake up.

We have breakfast together then we help clean up. Usually, I check and feed all my animals before I go for a ride.

I normally cook something for morning tea.

If there's a pink eye calf, we go get it in from down the paddock, then, if we are good, we go for a swim down the river, and I ride my other horse, Kylie.

Then we put tea in the oven and feed all the animals, then we have tea and a bath, do a bit a reading and go to bed, so that I can get up in the morning and ride my young horse again.

So that's me growing up, the same way as my mum.

Matilda Hutton, Tawonga, Victoria