Hundreds pay their respects to the talented Natasha Galpin

Under a clear blue sky and a watery winter sun, the small chapel at the Roucan Loch Crematorium near Dumfries was packed to bursting point on Monday as more than 200 friends and colleagues paid their final respects to Natasha Galpin, who died at the age of 22 in a freak accident on the gallops last month.

The service was conducted by the Reverend Eric Dempster, and he told the mourners that six years ago Galpin had moved from Laggan in Inverness to Moffat and began a livery yard on her parents' farm.

He said: "She was highly focused and even when she was at school she was determined to make horses her life.

"She was an accomplished rider and an accomplished teacher, and her parents Richard and Sally were so proud of her achievements and of her ethic that only hard work would take her to where she wanted to be."

More than 200 turned out to pay final tribute to Natasha GalpinCredit: Grossick Racing

Natasha, who began to ride out regularly for Carrutherstown-based trainer Iain Jardine, had already taken the first steps up the eventing ladder when winning the Scottish and Northern Novice Championship in 2017.

That meant she was at level 1 in a sport in which her dream was to gain international honours.

Sadly that dream never came to fruition for on January 15 she took a fatal fall on the gallops when her mount suffered a ruptured artery and threw her to the ground. She died in hospital the following day.

Jardine said: "It's so very, very sad. She was a very capable person, an excellent rider and was good at everything she did. It was a freak accident and it hit us all hard. Sadly horses can be so unpredictable."

Jonty Galbraith, who used to travel horses for Len Lungo, and is now with Jardine, recalled: "I remember when she first began riding out for us. First of all she came for just two days, but she was good and she loved it and she eventually came five days a week. I was there when the accident happened. It's so tragic."

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