Mikey

Despite shying at “anything and everything”, this field master’s horse is a “proper hunter” and a brilliant jumper

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MIKEY'S competition name was Ringside Advantage, and he has certainly given Paul Strawson an advantage in the Brocklesby country. This season, a yawning ditch defeated all but Mikey: “The huntsman was on a good horse, but he asked what we should do. We gave him a lead and carried on!”

The part-Irish Draught, part-thoroughbred arrived from Ireland destined for the show ring as a working hunter, but “he was a four-faulter”. Paul’s sister Ginny Rose had seen him aged five when Jane Collins first brought him over and liked him, then when he was for sale with showjumper Adrian Speight, she went to look at him.

“She thought I'd like him, but not the price,” remembers Paul. “She was right, but the price dropped!”

No doubt, that was due to a trick Paul soon discovered.