Hotspur

This Border huntsman’s horse was much more a method of getting from A to Bon arough December's night, he probably saved his rider’s life

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FORMER master and huntsman of the Border Foxhounds Michael Hedley has never claimed to be a horseman. To him a horse was a means of getting from A to B and if asked about his favourite he might have joked about "a Can-Am"; the quad bike from which he hunted hounds at the latter end of his career.

But there was a horse that stood out, from the 1970s, and he was called Hotspur.

Hotspur was a 16.1hh chestnut with a white blaze that Michael's father bought from a local farmer.

"Tom wanted £450 for him and Dad got him for £400," Michael recalled. "He wasn't a jumper, but then nor am I.