A year after the death of top horserider Peta Beckett, her family and friends masked their sadness with smiles by staging a birthday celebration for her son.

Yesterday they gathered to throw the party for Orlando at Manor Farm, Wigginton, near Banbury, where Peta, a member of the British three-day eventing team, ran a busy stable.

Orlando, nicknamed Panni, was seven last week, but his father Marvyn thought that delaying the festivities would help to lessen the pain of the anniversary of Peta's death today.

Marvyn now lives with his nine-year-old daughter, Hermione, known as Mimi, and Orlando, surrounded by memories of his late wife at the rented farmhouse in the rolling north Oxfordshire countryside.

Marvyn, 40, said the anniversary of Peta's death had brought many letters of support from friends and villagers. He added: "People say they still haven't got her out of their head I know I haven't.

"I'm keeping a brave face for the kids, but it's difficult at times.

"Every day something comes back.

"Even when I am doing something as mundane as driving my car, something will suddenly remind me of her."

Peta, ranked 24th in the world, rode for Great Britain in the World Equestrian Games in 1998 and was set to join the Olympic team for Sydney.

But on May 15 last year, she was thrown from her five-year-old gelding at the Savernake horse trials near Marlborough, Wiltshire. And in the four months after her death, four other event riders, three of whom were good friends of the Becketts, also died.

Only two weeks ago, eventer Jemima Johnson another close friend of the family died after a riding accident.

As his son's party got under way, Marvyn said: "She was a sweetheart, a good friend of ours.

"It was the last thing I needed."

He welcomed moves within the sport to toughen regulations to try to prevent future accidents. "It's a dangerous sport, but everyone knows the risks. Peta certainly did," he said. "But if you make it too safe, you take the challenge out of it."

Peta's mother, Diana Thorne, set up a trust fund for the children in her daughter's name.

Anyone wishing to organise fundraising events for the Peta Beckett Trust Fund should call 01608 730697, or write to Manor Farm, Wigginton, Banbury.