I STARTED riding at my father’s trekking yard in Glenbeigh, Co Kerry. Dad would open the stables in the summer when tourists would come and he’d take them riding on Rossbeigh Beach and around Glenbeigh.

When my parents separated I continued riding in Dublin and in Tipperary while I was boarding in Rockwell College. I graduated from Rockwell in 2000 and was fortunate enough to be selected for the Army Equitation School. I started in 2002, after spending two years in the Cadet School doing military training.