THE respectable ladies of a Scottish Borders hunt appear to have gone Grand Theft Auto after posing naked and toting guns for a charity calendar.
Eight members of the Jed Forest Hunt unzipped their sporting tweeds and posed with shotguns for the calendar which is raising money for Spinal Research.
The stars of the calendar live in and around the quiet mill town of Hawick which hit the headlines recently after it featured in the smash hit video game GTA V as a “druggie hipster” district.
But the ladies of the hunt insist their gun-toting antics are firmly rooted in the fox shooting traditions of the area.
Kate Mactaggart, 37, an equine sports massage therapist who lives in Hawick, said: “We did the shoot over a weekend in August.
“I was definitely nervous about it and there was certainly a bit of dutch courage needed, at 7am on the Saturday morning.
“We started off with sloe gin and champagne cocktails. We were offered quite a few drinks from people outside the pub opposite.”
Not all of the proposed shoots went according to plan for the ladies, who had to have a few last minutes changes to the schedule.
“We wanted to do a shot with a group of sheep but they just weren’t playing along. They were a bit wild and wouldn’t cover the bits that needed to be covered. The girls got cheekier as the weekend went on and braver.”
Mrs Mactaggart was joined by Lynsay Allison, Georgina Shiels, Annabelle Story, Harriett Bryce, Val Hanwick, Sarah Little and Ellie Bird.
The semi-naked horse lovers can be found shooting, fishing, and visiting Kelso Races and fording streams in beautiful locations in the Scottish Borders.
Sarah Little, who can be seen riding through a river on a quad bike, with two terriers, Holly and Nettle revealed: “Half a bottle of rhubarb rum helped calmed my nerves.
“My bare legs were torn to shreds by the dogs trying to keep balance,” she said.
Sarah added: “We’ve all got family or friends who’ve had accidents riding, playing rugby or skiing, and have ended up in a wheelchair.
“Every eight hours someone in the UK is paralysed by breaking their neck of their back. The work Spinal Research do to help is inspiring.”
The calendar is available to buy now for £10, 50% of which will be donated to Spinal Research.
