In this gloriously sunny week, the cavalry horses are off on their summer break to Bodney, Norfolk. They can be seen prancing across Holkham beach, scattering oyster catchers, pushchairs, Cath Kidston picnics and naturists. Everybody loves to see the horses, some plunging into the sea, others shying gingerly from the spray. I am especially keen, having watched some of them Trooping the Colour a couple of weeks ago. Charles Moore has already noted approvingly that, when Field Marshal Guthrie took a tumble, his horse stood immaculately still. It is a slightly equine-centric view of the episode, but not heartless, since Guthrie is on the mend. Major-General Ben Bathurst, commander of the Household Division, drops in to see us in Marham, a little way between Bodney and the coast, and I question him about the programme notes for Trooping the Colour. His horse, Atticus, for instance, was described as ‘fizzy’. Is that a euphemism for ‘total nightmare’? One of the jolliest facts I pick up is that neither the riders nor the horses are necessarily experienced.
Sarah Sands
Diary – 28 June 2018
issue 30 June 2018
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