Staying in the plate

It’s an honour to ride other people’s horses as hunting correspondent, says former H&H editor Michael Clayton, but definitely a risky business

- Michael Clayton

AS we rode home after a memorable day over the Galway Blazers’ heavenly old turf and myriad limestone walls, I noticed that a man riding next to me was heavily scratched, bruised and mud-daubed.

When I commiserated, he admitted he had a crashing fall with his hireling, and added: “Some b****** from Horse & Hound collared the best horse today, I hear.”

As the visiting hunting correspondent, I coughed and replied, “Quite so.” Then I trotted on smartly.

It was not a press seat priority, but sheer good fortune that had provided me with an excellent ride on a five-year-old hunter from the famous Galway horse dealer and hirer Willie Leahy. The renowned Leicestershire dealer, Barbara Rich, had asked me if I would “try” a young horse she might buy from Willie for a client in England.

I gave the horse a warm recommendation to Barbara when I returned from this Irish trip, and envied its new owner.

It proved that you need luck as well as a degree of horsemanship to survive many seasons riding other people’s horses to hounds.

You merely get a brief glimpse at the meet of the horse you are about to mount as a visiting scribe, but this does not matter. I once wrote: “Conformation is all very well, but it is what happens between a horse’s ears that really matters. I have always found that a horse’s temperament becomes clear during the first few minutes after the meet. I would trust an honest four-year-old far more than a duck-hearted veteran.”

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