A groom pulled out all the stops to make his wedding day extra special – by giving his horse the role of best man.
Paul Boyles secretly arranged retired racehorse King Erik to arrive with the rings when he and wife Kay, 48, tied the knot. The handsome hurdler brought them to the ceremony in a special saddle pouch and walked down the aisle in front of the 96 guests.
Ridden by family friend Steph Marshall, the eight-year-old gelding stood behind the happy couple during the ceremony – and another 90 minutes for photos.
Then he even went on honeymoon, when the newlyweds abandoned plans to go to Italy and took the horsebox to Wales instead.
Lidl store manager Paul, 47, said: "Being a best man is a horrible job as you have to be funny and spend all day worrying about the speech. So I had an idea that Erik could be my best man. He's like our baby – we have an incredible bond with him.
"He's so calm for an ex-racehorse. He knows us so well. I kept it as a complete surprise and planned it all out."
Under the name King Erik, the point-to-point winner was tipped to do well on the racecourse, until his short career was curtailed by a tendon injury.
Early in 2021, while buying a new car, Kay asked Paul if they could get a horse too and they saw Erik advertised online. On Paul's birthday, that April, they went to see him and instantly fell in love with the bay ex-racer, paying £2,200 to take him home to County Durham.
The couple, who met on Match.com, had to cancel their wedding twice due to Covid-19 before their final date of May 28. Paul feels like it was fate so Erik could come into their lives.
"Until I met him, I never realised the bond you could have with a horse. It's incredible," he said.
"He listens to us and we listen to him. Kay has ridden horses for 25 years but I was a total newcomer. I talk to him and he understands voice commands. He lets our ten-year-old daughter Poppy ride him.
"He's not a normal racehorse, he's very placid and patient – and everyone loves him."
Once Paul thought out the grand plan for the big day, he decided to practise for the ceremony. He played the Black Beauty theme tune to him in his field, as that was the soundtrack for the horse's big moment at the George Washington Hotel.
“We went to the hotel with Erik and Steph rode around the venue to prepare," Paul said. "We decided to give the aisle a go, so for the next few months we took him to the indoor arena and got him used to chairs.
"We put flowers in his mane and a special saddle pad made with 'King Erik, best man' on it."
It was a nervy moment for Kay, when Paul pretended he had forgotten the rings when they said their vows – and then Erik turned up. The couple drove off on honeymoon, accompanied by the 'best man' and another horse Splash, to enjoy the Welsh countryside together.
"The big day was a fairytale," said Paul. "Erik has completed our family."
