'It's a tough job - but working for David Elsworth prepares you for anything'

Being president of the National Farmers Union must be a daunting task. Seeking to placate 50,000 forthright sons of the soil – all of them grappling with the intricacies of Brexit and clamouring for their corner to be fought in the corridors of power – can't be a job for the faint of heart, certainly not one to come to unprepared.

Luckily for Minette Batters, she had a good grounding in the combative ways of the rural community as a young point-to-point rider looking to make her way in the racing world. What better way to ready oneself for years of volatility and strife, after all, than to take a job with David Elsworth?

Batters lived, and still farms, just down the road from Whitsbury, Hampshire, where the great man used to train, and managed to secure a position riding out for him in the days of his pomp, which was a role that had its ups and its downs. She has gone on to tough it out as the first female head of the NFU in its 110-year history, but memories of those formative years with 'Elsie' still linger.