IT’S always fascinating to talk with somebody who has been successful in one equestrian discipline, challenges himself in another area on a different continent and become outstandingly successful at that also. Now, he has decided to step back from competitive riding and take up training.

That person is Waterford horseman Mark Beecher who is from a hunting and show jumping background. I talked with him from his present home in Maryland in the USA. Although I was aware of some of his successes abroad having seen him race riding, I didn’t realise the enormity of what he has achieved in just eight years as a jockey in the USA, and hunting and show jumping has contributed to that success.