Chris Tuffrey didn't pick up his first bird until he was 30 years old, writes KATHERINE MacALISTER. "I was a late developer," he explains. But he's been chasing them ever since.

And his body has been scratched all over in the process. He was even hospitalised after one hung on to his lip.

But this was not the act of a crazed woman. His first date was with a kestrel and falconer Chris admits his birds now run the roost.

His displays of the ancient art of falconry are a bit different: his show is the only one in the country played out on horseback.

The 49-year-old former policeman and fireman loves the path his career has taken. He was running his own coach company in Banbury when he decided he needed a new hobby.

"I wanted something that would take me away from the everyday monotony of the working day and I thought falconry fitted the bill. "I grew up in the countryside so loved being outdoors," he says.

He knew a falconer who taught him the basics, and took it from there.

"I was addicted from the beginning. They say if you do it for 12 hours you'll be hooked for life. It certainly took over mine."

He began spending more time hunting than working and eventually quit to set up one of the first falconry centres in the country.

Several years later he decided to go on the show circuit and was soon recruited to work in Germany. It was there that he suffered his worst injury.

He called back an eagle that was soaring. The five-pound bird dived towards him at 60mph and, just as it was about to grab his hand, a gust of wind blew it off course. The bird, frantic to stay on Chris, clung to the nearest thing with its beak - Chris's bottom lip.

Chris was carted off to hospital to be given seven stitches.

He remains philosophical about the dangers: "It's the nature of the beast, not aggression."

His work took him all over Europe, but when he returned to England he discovered there was a glut of falconry displays. He knew he needed a new concept but it wasn't until he met Eileen Gilmore 18 months ago that the idea of displays on horseback was born. Eileen, 50, used to train horses for films. She taught Chris to ride in just three months and the pair set up in business together. They now tour the country giving displays in medieval garb.

And to make the sport more accessible, they are running hunting and teaching days from Chris's Deddington base, where he keeps ten birds and six horses - one of whom led the charge in the film Braveheart.

The pair, who are "very close friends", work from dawn to dusk flying the birds and exercising the horses.

"It's physically exhausting but we love it," says Eileen, who also runs a chiropractic clinic in North Aston.

"I thought by this stage in my life I'd be getting cleaner and more organised. I never thought I'd own two of my own birds and be getting dirtier than ever. I eat sleep and dream horses and birds now."

The pair can be seen at Shotover Country Fair on June 6 and Hook Norton Royal Fair on July 4. Courses start in September. For further information telephone 01869 347480.

Story date: Saturday 22 May

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