H&C

The London 2012 Olympics is just one of the ambitions for Irish showjumper Shane Breen, and his dream could well turn into a reality. Most national titles in Ireland already bear his name, he has been a Nations Cup team member and represented his country at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen.

On top of that, in 2007 he married into the Bunn family equestrian dynasty and is based at Hickstead - arguably the world’s leading and best-equipped, permanent equestrian showground.

Shane was in the saddle almost before he could walk, and when he was five his father bought him an unbroken pony which he later rode to hounds.

Hunting has had a lot to do in honing his riding skills – the family have strong connections with the legendary “black and tans,” the Scarteen. He still hunts with them, sometimes as amateur whip, whenever he can, usually with his father and younger brother, Trevor, also a showjumper and currently the reigning Irish national champion.

It was probably the hunting which stood him in good stead when he became only the second showjumper (the other being Michael Whitaker) to have won the unique Eventing Grand Prix at the Longines Royal International Horse Show, the competition which combines the challenges of both showjumping and eventing.

Shane already had a European Silver medal to his name, won on ponies at the age of 16 and with many seasons as leading pony rider behind him. He has represented Ireland at European Junior and Young Rider level.

He won his first international class at Hickstead in 1994, prophetic perhaps because 13 years later he married Chloe, daughter of Hickstead founder and showjumping legend Douglas Bunn. Shane, who has two children, is now based there, running the British side of the family business - Breen Equestrian, with 50 stables at his disposal.

Now, with the Hickstead facilities literally on his doorstep, he and Chloe are busy decveloping the family business. They are building a team of world-class jumping stallions which so far include the Ryan family’s Carmena Z and Royal Concorde. He also supplements his showjumping by training other riders, and amongst his current pupils is Chloe’s niece, Lucy.

Carmena Z took Shane to victory as the first male winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in 2008 and Royal Concorde won the Bunn Leisure speed Derby in the same year, smashing the course record in the process.

With these two horses in his string, plus others including World Cruise, Mullaghdrin Gold Rain and Dorada, Shane’s future looks promising and one of his ambitions – to make the top 20 in the world rankings – could be much more than a pipedream.

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