Our mum said one show jumper in the family was enough. That was my brother Shane; so I went for a commerce degree at University College Cork,” Trevor Breen recalls.

For a time he worked in finance with Merill Lynch but admits to simply “hating it”. So, he turned his energy to teaching. But just before heading to the University of Limerick for his H. DIP came his eureka moment. Having taken a few months out to groom and ride for Shane, the bug took hold. Jim Costigan, who was a great owner of good horses for the likes of Francis Connors, offered him the ride on the Clover Brigade gelding Always Cullohill, and so his future was cemented in show jumping.

Hickstead

Shane had made his move over to Hickstead in 2007. Trevor admits that his decision to follow suit was the result of romance rather than the desire to leave Ireland. “I love Ireland but I had met my wife, British show jumper Caroline Black. That really determined my heading to Sussex in 2011,” he says with a Tipperary grin.

The move certainly has been successful in many ways. He and Caroline now have two children, Mia and Ollie. They also operate their own yard and trading company Breen Sport Horses just three miles from Hickstead.

The Derby

After some near misses Trevor realised a dream by winning back-to-back Hickstead Derbies in 2014 and 2015. But being a true Irish team man, his proudest achievement to date is the part he played in winning the Prince of Wales Cup at Hickstead last year.

His performance with the Lord Z mare Bombay in both rounds of the competition helped set up Anthony Condon for a jump-off victory over Britain. He also recorded a double clear as part of Ireland’s Nations Cup win in Lisbon last year.

Recently Breen was competing Karen Swan’s Escapade H with much success in the Abu Dhabi Cup. He has a very promising younger horse, also owned by Karen Swan, “I think he is one of the best horses I ever had, he is only eight, but he is a phenomenal horse and ticks all of the boxes”.

Irish scene

Trevor has judged both the four-year-olds at the RDS and with admirable sensitivity he was visiting rider at the HSI Cavan Stallion Inspections. He speaks in most positive terms about the current state of Irish show jumping breeding, “I see some very nice young horses coming through.”