01. Paul Beecher
Paul’s exposure to horses came early in his life with his earliest memory being sitting on the saddle in front of his Dad while he rode along. With horses always in the background, It came as no surprise that Paul would follow in his father’s footsteps. A family with a long association with fox hunting, Paul's love for hunting started with his father taking him hunting on his first pony named Teddy at the age of four, Paul is still actively involved with the West Waterford Foxhounds, where he fills the role of Whipper in alongside his father the Joint Master.
Although Paul tried all disciplines, he quickly settled into show jumping where his career took flight. Paul set a record which still stands to date as being the youngest showjumping competitor in the RDS, competing on Loughnatousa Champ at the age of seven. Competing in the pony arena, he clocked up a series of wins through the grades. In the 128cm division riding Loughnatousa Champ, Rubberball, Wigwam,and Loughnatousa Lobster he featured in many winning line-ups around the country.
Highlight in Paul's 128 career was winning the 128 Millstreet Indoor Derby on "The Kerryman" what made it all the more special was that it was aired on national television, Paul had a selection of ponies in the three height categories at any one given time and as a result he learnt how to adjust quickly. Ponies such as Loughnatousa Thunderclap (148) Loughnatousa Patches (148cm), The Bullet (138) Three for a Girl (138) Westend Travis (148) and Aerhostess (148) saw him make in his name in the pony arena with a host of good results across the country which included wins in Millstreet International Horse Show and Dublin .Three for a Girl (138) was the pony that brought Paul on his first Irish team in South View in England which ended up with à win, In the young rider arena, Paul had much success with Loughnatousa Bruno, Loughnatousa Ambassador, Loughnatousa Gus and Loughnatousa Iris. Paul move into the senior arena with much experience under his belt and took to this division with ease. With a selection of home bred and horses to choose from, Paul quickly made his presence felt in this arena. Some of his rising stars at that time included Loughnatousa Ambassador, Faliano, Loughnatousa Clover, Lucky Valier, Loughnatousa Kim. In 2008 Paul competed in the National Grand Prix at Clare Equestrian aboard Loughnatousa W B, WB was à horse that Paul had right from the beginning all the way through to Grand Prix, this combination went onto enjoy a lot of success at this higher level. In 2012 Paul and Loughnatousa WB took on the Hickstead Derby. In doing so Paul made history as being the first rider to be drawn first to go, and to produce an amazing clear round, In the second round Paul faced Derby specialist William Funnell and Dorada in a nail-biting jump off. In the jump-off, the combination went on to produce another perfect clear while William Funnell and Dorada picked up 4 faults at the third fence. Paul produced two of the only 56 clear rounds in the competition’s 51-year history. On the international circuit, Paul also made his mark clocking up a series of good results at Hamburg CSI3*, Vejer de la Frontera CSI3*. For this year Paul has à lovely string of up and coming Grand Prix horses, with success coming twice so far in The Munster Grand Prix League on Danqu and the homebred Loughnatousa Eric.
