From playing polo and riding in a fixed race to bravely riding into battles where comrades died - a new book documents how horses played a huge part in Winston Churchill's life.

The wartime Prime Minister had to prove himself in the saddle as a spindly child, and as he grew older became a keen rider and successful racehorse owner.

In between, Churchill's expertise at riding served him well during a distinguished career in the army.

Churchill, with his racehorse 'Colonist II' after it had won the Lowther Stakes at Newmarket

Churchill at meet of the Old Surrey and Burtons Hunt at Churchill Farm. Churchill hunted keenly throughout his life

On one occasion, at the Battle of Odurman 1898, he was among 400 troops to charge down 2,500 dervishes armed with guns and swords, in an advance that cost 22 servicemen their lives - and he feared he would be one of them, according to the Daily Express.

'As I straightened in the saddle, I saw another figure with uplifted sword,' he said.

'I raised by pistol and fired. So close were we that the pistol itself actually struck him.

'Man and sword disappeared behind me.'

Pictured with a foal during his older years. A small man in stature, Churchill had struggled physically as a boy, but found his slight frame was an advantage in the saddle

Mr and Mrs Winston Churchill, 'The first Lord of the Admiralty, taken from The Sphere magazine

Three years previously, Churchill was on horseback when he faced gunfire for the first time when he had chose to fight with the Spanish in Cuba while taking a compulsory sabbatical from the Army.

And during the Boer War, he would have almost certainly been killed had he not been able to mount a galloping horse at speed.

His squadron was ambushed as they stood around, and as Churchill went to climb back onto his animal, it bolted.

As the enemy troops chased him on foot, a comrade appeared on the scene and he was able to expertly leap into the saddle despite the horse running at full tilt, and he was rushed to safety.

Pictured with Colonist II again. The horse was his most successful, winning 13 races and becoming a crowd favourite

Churchill riding 'Salve' around the grounds of Chartwell, Westerham, Kent

But his passion for horses landed him in hot water and almost curtailed his career when it emerged he had ridden in a fixed race at Aldershot in 1895.

Churchill finished third on a horse called Traveller, but 11 months later all of the horses that took part in the race were banned from competing, although no action was taken against any rider.

He wrote to his brother at the time of the race: 'It was very exciting and there is no doubt that it being pretty dangerous.'

His riding ability had stemmed from his childhood years growing up near Newmarket racecourse, and actually lived at Banstead Manor, which now houses Prince Khalid Abdullah's famed horses.

Pictured on horseback in 1948

Winston Churchill with one of his horses, Salve, In 1934. His riding ability had stemmed from his childhood years

A small man in stature, Churchill had struggled physically as a boy, but found his slight frame was an advantage in the saddle.

'I am cursed with so feeble a bod that I can scarcely endure the fatigues of the day,' he wrote to his mother.

His enjoyment carried on through to his old age - his last day of hunting was on his 74th birthday, and won 71 races in a 15-year career breeding and training racehorses.