THE best friend of devoted mum Pennie Davis revealed that she had only moved her horses to the fateful rural spot where she was murdered less than a week ago.

Hairdresser Nicola Crawford said that the supermarket worker “wouldn’t hurt a fly” and had only just found happiness with her husband Pete, who she married in May.

The 38-year-old paid tribute to the “bubbly” working mum, who she had met when she began cutting her hair five years ago. They quickly became close friends, bonding over their love of horses.

The mum-of-three, who had been due to meet Pennie on Wednesday, said: “She started off as a customer but our friendship blossomed from there after I gave her one of my horses, Spratt, who she still had.

“She was so bubbly, quite loud, but absolutely lovely. She didn’t have a bad bone in her body.

“Pennie was so full of life and I can’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt her.

“For a long time she was lonely and her horses were her passion, but when she met Pete through a friend, everything seemed to have finally worked out for her.”

Pennie had picked the field on the Beaulieu Estate to be closer to the couple’s new home in Blackfield.

Mrs Crawford, from Southampton, added: “Pennie had a tough life but she and Pete were like peas in a pod and spent every possible moment together.

“He would often go up to meet her at the yard, which is when he would have found her.

“I just don’t get what’s happened. Pennie was very independent and would constantly visit the horses to give them hay but never spent hours up there as she was a busy working mum.

“The thought of someone following her makes me sick and frightens me.

“The fact she had been through so much and pulled through is heartbreaking and a complete and utter shock.”

There were emotional scenes yesterday as the heartbroken family of Pennie Davis visited the spot where she was viciously stabbed to death.

One by one they laid their own personal tributes to the bubbly mum-of-five at the gates of the paddocks where she had been tending her beloved horses before she was murdered.

The family wept and hugged one another as they tried to come to terms with the horrifying truth of what has happened.

It was the first time Pennie’s husband of four months, Pete, had returned to the field in Beaulieu since being left traumatised after discovering his wife’s body on Tuesday afternoon.

He left a bunch of pink roses, with a card that read: “Angel, all my love, always and forever Pete.”

One of her daughters, Georga, 18, left a cuddly giraffe wearing a rosette which said “Mum’s a Winner” while her sons Alex, 18, and Josef, 13, and daughters Sophie, 20, and Nicola left cards with heartfelt messages.

Just yards away teams of police officers were hunting for Pennie’s killer, with some dredging the nearby river in the hope of finding the murder weapon.

A post-mortem examination revealed that Pennie, a former Daily Echo employee, suffered multiple stab wounds, sparking a major police hunt for her killer, who last night remained on the loose.

No arrests have been made and the motive for her murder is still unclear, with detectives unsure if she was known to her killer or if it was a random attack.

With the killer still at large, officers have stepped up patrols in the local community to offer reassurance to residents, who have been living in fear since news of the murder hit the headlines on Wednesday evening.

More than 40,000 visitors are expected to flock to Beaulieu this weekend as the National Motor Museum hosts its biggest event of the year, the Autojumble.

Motorists will be met with police signs appealing for witnesses to Pennie’s murder as they make their way to the two-day extravaganza, which organisers have said will not be affected by the ongoing investigation.