CHRISTINE PATRICK

CHRISTINE PATRICK’S ex-racer Otto never put a hoof wrong. He was winning red rosettes in walk and trot dressage and was about to progress to prelim. During hacks he would fly along the undulating South Downs, finding the sixth gear that had aided his haul of £62,000 while on the racetrack, where he ran under the name of Lesley’s Choice and made other flat machines look ordinary.

Christine, vice chair of Hailsham Equestrian Club, had purchased the bay gelding for £600 for riding club activities after seeing him advertised in Horsemart, but Otto also turned out to be a super-safe hack, unfazed by tractors, motorbikes and the biggest lorries.

So when, in April 2015, Christine and Otto were nearing the end of a lengthy ride in company, walking sedately down Michelham Priory Road, just