The Best children, from left: Julie, David, Cathy and Susie. (0572076)

THE invitation to Cathy Best to take part in last month’s Dancesport Challenge at Beau Sejour may not have come had the star jeweller forged ahead with her first career choice – that of a farrier.

As someone who loved horses from the moment she was able to walk and climb onto one, fitting horseshoes seemed a natural enough choice. And it nearly happened.

‘Susie [her sister] suggested I’d be a farrier, but I decided I was probably too small for the job and it was Julie, my other sister, who suggested jewellery.’

Off she went to night school and within an hour she had fallen in love with the craft, which has led to her running successful businesses at the family windmill in Steam Mill Lane and in another, at St Peter in Jersey.

‘Not many people knew about jewellery design or making when I started, but I liked working with my hands.’

And given the taste for it she was soon heading off to Medway College of Design in Rochester, where for four years she studied the craft which has served her so well for the last 21.

In that time she has married Paul [Freeman] and borne two daughters – Penny (15) and Vicki (16) – who, just like their mum, were given the opportunity for an outdoor lifestyle surrounded by animals.

Cathy’s grandmother, Edith Sebire, pictured in 1911, aged 3. (0572088)

Talking about her childhood, the images of a young girl going where she wanted to, when she wanted to but mostly within the safety of the Best land atop St Peter’s Valley, would make today’s health and safety constricted children very jealous.

‘It was a very happy childhood. Very outdoors, very free, a lot of Rocquaine beach, late night barbecues and lots of parties – my parents being party animals. Lots of boating, too.

‘As children we would go through fields to go to see cousins and grandma at Sunny Side and never have to cross a road.’

Much of her time was in the company of Susie [now Farnon], currently chief executive of the Guernsey Sports Commission.

‘She was in the horsey world with me.’

The cousins were the Travers of Briar Bank and before that, Ville au Roi.

They shared a love of horse riding and in Cathy’s case, the cups runneth the family home over.

A very successful junior showjumper, she rode in England for a short time.

Dad Colin ‘Doc’ Best was a horse-lover too but it had a negative effect on his third daughter’s education.

‘Dad kept buying all the naughty ponies and I seemed to spend my life running to and from school to look after them. My head was always elsewhere.

‘Mum and dad gave us a very happy, carefree childhood and dad was very energetic.

‘He was always doing something, whether organising a clay pigeon shoot, when mum often helped out with the catering and entertainment, a large party at Rocquaine or the BSJA (British Showjumping Association).

‘My parents were always holding massive parties with the most fabulous food on offer and we were always meeting new people, including at one time having dinner with the owner of the Prosperity.

‘Life was never dull.

Having considered a career as a farrier, Cathy instead became a renowned jeweller. (0504184)

‘Dad was always thinking of new ideas, including the first-ever floodlit horse show, ostriches and llamas being brought over as pets, parasailing in Havelet Bay, and the list goes on.

‘Meanwhile, Mum was a fantastic cook, feeding us all a three-course meal every evening or providing fabulous picnics on the boat or at horse shows.’

And her grandparents?

‘I do remember Gran Righton very well.

‘She was the one who came and supported me through hail and shine at the horse events and often met up at these events with Grandma Best.

‘She was also great at card games.

‘We used to go and stay with her at Le Lorier, where it was absolutely freezing, and play whist in front of the fire. When she wanted to talk to her friend without us understanding she would go into fluent Guernsey-French.

‘It was probably the coldest place we can remember as children – hot water bottles were essential.’

There’s a special mention for grandma Best [nee Marjory Waymouth].

‘She allowed me to ride my 12.3hh Crackerjack into the kitchen up at Sunny Side.’

Cathy even had her ears pierced by a grandma who, she recalls, regularly held court with her friends in Maison Carre, where today Dix Neuf operates.

‘She had huge feet, huge hands and big knickers,’ laughs Cathy, while recalling how, when on horseback, she would have to duck through them on the washing line.

As for grandpa Freddie?

‘I was five when he died so don’t remember much about him.’

‘He was quite a character,’ recalls Margaret, Cathy’s mum. ‘A man of his own. He didn’t give a damn.’

Freddie Best died in 1971 and the timing was not good.

In a typically tongue-in-cheek quip, Cathy says: ‘I was really cross with him because he ruined my birthday. Dad was really miserable.’

The Righton family at the wedding of Garth in 1943. Cathy’s grandfather Percy was in India with the navy at the time (0572089)