I EVENTUALLY found Dennis Lippit watching morning television in his little mobile home, which is tucked up against the outbuildings at Salford Court Farm, just outside Clifton upon Teme.

The rain was whipping down and as I sloshed through the mud and the farmyard puddles, Dennis's sheepdog Meg emerged, tail wagging and all wriggly affection, from beneath the caravan.

"She won't hurt. She's a good dog," said the wiry figure in the doorway. "I bought a kennel for her, but she won't use it. Prefers to sleep under here.

"I'd offer you a cup of coffee, but I can't. I've just given the last of my milk to the cats."

I never saw them, but having made her welcomes, Meg retired to her snug bed among some straw bales and I stepped inside the record breaker's home.

At first sight, Dennis Lippet doesn't strike you as a unique man, yet he is probably Worcestershire's only entry in the Guinness Book of Records.

All of us who occasionally feel we're getting too old for the riding game should take inspiration from him.

Because Dennis, who is 87 this year, and his horse Max, an estimated 38, are the oldest horse-rider combination in the country.

A couple of years ago they had a write-up in Horse and Hound and no one has come forward to challenge their total, so it's pretty safe to assume the claim to fame is belt and braces safe.

If Dennis was ever going to achieve celebrity status, it was always likely to be something to do with horses. He's been around them all his life.

He was born on a small farm near Ludlow, but as one of six children, there wasn't a lot of room and at the age of six he went to live on his uncle's farm at Walford, near Leintwardine in Herefordshire, only three miles from the Welsh border.

"I stayed there for 17 years, until he retired and sold up in 1939," said Dennis. "Everything was done with horses. I don't think there was a tractor on the place.

"There were six working horses and one riding horse to go around the farm and check the stock.

"We ploughed with horses, pulled wagons, everything you'd use a tractor for these days.

"I entered my first ploughing match when I was 15 and won the junior section. They gave me a £5 watch, but I flogged it and bought a bike for £3 19s 6d. So I had a bit of change as well.

"I've been riding as long as I can remember. Like my father, my uncle was a keen hunting man and when I was young I used to go out with the Teme Valley pack on a little Welsh pony."

However, Dennis's favourite horse in those days was a thoroughbred that found its way on to the farm

"It's a long time ago and I can't remember its name now," he reflected, pulling an old photograph of a very glossy horse from his wallet. "It might have been Flower, but it was a lovely horse. We had a lot of fun. It made £30 in the farm sale and I was really sad to see it go."

On April 23, 1940, Dennis moved to Salford Court Farm, where the Yeomans family were distant relatives.

"We had four working horses when I came here," he added. "There was Charlie, Jolly, Gipsey and another one I can't remember. And there was a riding horse too.

"But tractors were coming in. Mind you, they were those open cab old Fordsons and didn't you get cold on a wet day. You'd go up and down a field ploughing for hours in the rain. They were so slow.

"We had spade lug wheels on one and it was a rough old ride, I can tell you. Bumped all over the place.

"The last working horse we had here was a Suffolk Punch Mr Yeomans bought from Harry Beck at Rushwick."

Max, a three-quarters Arab, arrived at Salford Court Farm in 1973, having been bought out of Stow Horse Fair by Ron Richards, of Martley Hillside.

"He's been here ever since and I've looked after him all the time," said Dennis.

"He won't be going off the farm either. When the time comes I've picked his spot and I'll make a nice headstone."

The pair have formed a unique partnership and over the years been a familiar sight in the fields and lanes around Clifton.

Dennis regularly used to ride Max down to the New Inn for a drink and also to the village shop if he needed to buy provisions.

"But he got a bit crafty about the shop," said his rider. "He wouldn't go past until the children there gave him sweets."

The pair also hunted with the Clifton upon Teme foxhounds, Max proving an enthusiastic ride.

"Being an Arab, couldn't he go," Dennis added. "Mind you, he was supposed to have won three races when he was younger, so he must have been fast."

These days Max leads a quieter life, rugged up and doted over by his keeper with two hard feeds a day and a tit-bit late at night, when he's checked over for the last time.

"Considering his age, he's in really good condition and when the vet comes to the farm for the cattle or sheep, he looks at Max too. About the only problem he's got are his teeth, which are wearing down a bit now. But I give him a special feed to make up for that."

It's still pouring with rain as I leave Salford Court Farm, but there warm and dry in the shelter of a barn stands Max.

One half of a remarkable partnership.