Sefton

He was bought in Ireland in 1967 and served nineteen years with the Household Cavalry, a bay gelding with a white blaze and a reputation for biting. On the morning of 20 July 1982 the Blues and Royals rode out from Knightsbridge Barracks for the Changing of the Guard, and a car packed with nail-filled explosive was detonated by remote control as they passed along South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park. Four soldiers were killed. Seven horses died there or were destroyed at the scene. Sefton took thirty-four separate wounds, including a nail through the jugular vein, and stood while a trooper held the artery closed with his hand. The operation lasted eight hours; he lost most of his blood volume and was not expected to live the night. The country followed the reports day by day, and letters and money arrived at the barracks in sacks. He came back to duty the following year and appeared at the Royal Tournament to a standing ovation. He retired in 1984 to the Home of Rest for Horses in Buckinghamshire and died there in 1993, aged thirty. The money the public sent for him — over £600,000 — built the Sefton Surgical Wing at the Royal Veterinary College, which is still treating horses.

Honours

• 1982Survived the Hyde Park bombing with 34 wounds, including a severed jugular, and eight hours of surgery
• 1983Returned to duty; standing ovation at the Royal Tournament
• · Over £600,000 sent in by the public built the Sefton Surgical Wing at the Royal Veterinary College
• 1984Retired to the Home of Rest for Horses, where he lived to thirty

Their kind

The Irish farm horse crossed to the Thoroughbred: bone and a level head from one side, scope and reach from the other — the standard cavalry and hunting horse of these islands.

A life in seasons