A BROKEN nose and a lost tooth don't always foretell the start of a beautiful relationship, but so it is proving for Hector Payne and his top ride, Dynasty.
“He was a seven-year-old and it was perhaps his first day trotting after coming back in,” says Hector, remembering back to that occasion at William Fox-Pitt's yard. “I'd taken him for a walk round the roads, then William liked us to trot a few laps of the school.
“He got to the wheelbarrow, whipped round and chucked me off. He jumped a showjump for fun, then I caught him and got back on. He went to do exactly the same thing again, but this time I was ready and because I stopped him whipping round, he threw his head up so hard he broke my nose and knocked my tooth out.”
It wasn't untypical behaviour for the young Dynasty – known as Raffles – but that's why Hector gained the ride.
The Dutch warmblood was imported
