WEST Dorset's most famous resident has dedicated a chapter in his new book to a remarkable local horse.

Martin Clunes, who lives near Beaminster, has written a touching tribute to  Weymouth charity TheHorseCourse and its horse Flower in his new book Meetings with Remarkable Animals.

The star of Doc Martin and Men Behaving Badly is as well known for his love of animals as he is for his TV roles and now, thanks to his latest book, Flower the horse from TheHorseCourse is getting to share the limelight.

Martin has long been a big supporter of the Weymouth charity and presented a signed copy its co-founder Harriet Laurie outside his local bookstore in Beaminster.

The charity employs six facilitators and 14 horses and specialises in helping people with complex challenges and needs to achieve proven outcomes.


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Flower and Harriet feature in a chapter of Meetings with Remarkable Animals, which documents their work alongside real-life tales of heroism, loyalty and companionship of truly remarkable animals.

A spokesman for the mental health charity said: "Of course staff at TheHorseCourse know how amazing they both are and now so will lots of other people who can get an insight into how and why Harriet decided to start the charity nearly 15 years ago and how Flower has helped so many people in those years."

They added: "Staff say they can’t thank Martin enough for being such a keen supporter of theirs for all those years and immortalising Flower (and Harriet!)."