January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
50-horse honour guard for Paddy Heslop's funeral
50-horse honour guard for Paddy Heslop's funeral
Members of the Bermuda Hunt club, in full-formal dress, will lead the parade and horse-drawn hearse from Spicelands to St. Mary's Church in Warwick this afternoon.
Dr. Heslop, the founder of the Bermuda Horse and Pony Club, passed away on Monday at the age of 83 after suffering a stroke last week.
Family and friends today paid tribute to the vet, who also founded Bermuda Riding for the Disabled, owned Warwick Riding School and was chef de mission for the Bermuda team at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
He was an active member of the equestrian community right up until his death and was an ever-present at local events.
His son Chris Heslop, said he had lived for the animals he treated.
"He worked right up to the day before he had his stroke. He loved animals, he loved the job. That was his life and even at his age he was working 10-12 hour days. If you had a sick animal you could call him up any time. Even if it was four in the morning, he would just say 'put the kettle on, I'm coming over.'
"He'd be there any time of day - even if they couldn't pay."
Dr. Heslop, who was a Steeplechase jockey in England before arriving in Bermuda in 1961, was one of the youngest ever graduates from the Royal Veterinary College in London.
He worked as a private practice vet in Bermuda for nearly 50 years and was vet-on-call at virtually every Equestrian event.
Mr. Heslop said he expected today's funeral to be sad, but also to be a proud moment for the family.
"It 's going to be great to see how much he was loved by the community. I know this is what he would have wanted."
As well as his son Chris, Dr Heslop leaves five other children and six grandchildren.
Heidi Mello, president of the Bermuda Horse and Pony Club, said he was respected throughout the equestrian community.
"Anybody who had an animal knew Paddy and knew how much he cared for the animals he treated.
"He was such an active member of the equestrian community. He was never off the committee of the horse and pony club."
Pony racer Chris Roque added that the whole community wanted to give Dr Heslop a proper send-off at today's procession.
"All my life he's been around every horse event, every dog event. He was a great sportsman and an icon for the equestrian world."
The procession will leave Spicelands just after 3pm today with a service planned at St. Mary's for 3:30pm.
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