Enjoying the company of horses can be one thing, but finding a worthwhile and enjoyable career with them is something else, the ultimate even.

Cambridge racehorse trainer Richard Dee can relate to such circumstances. As a teenage he gained his share of pleasure and rewards riding show jumpers. That can be an expensive pursuit, especially when it got to the serious stage that Richard found himself in once he left high school.

He was lucky to be able to find farm work that fitted in with and financed his show jumping activities, but accepted the need to plan for a more concrete future. Therefore at age 20 he sold his show jumpers and moved from the Bay of Plenty to South Auckland where he found a job as a stablehand with racehorse trainer Bruce Wallace.

Richard's experience with horses, which had included some racehorse work, along with his keen and willing attitude quickly made him a highly valued employee at the Wallace establishment. He was soon elevated to the role of assistant foreman and within several months stepped up another rung to foreman.

With about 35 horses in the stable and seven or eight staff to direct, Richard rose to the challenge, often being left in sole charge while his boss campaigned the best racehorses in Australia. "I loved it," says Richard. "Bruce was an excellent boss with plenty to teach me and every day was a challenge."

But in Richards's eyes, the ultimate challenge was to set up his own racing stable, so after five years he bit the bullet and moved to Matamata, initially employed as a private trainer but after several months on leased property with his own business, his racehorse numbers were not huge, and to supplement them he pre-trained - doing the foundation fitness work - for other in the area, including Matamata's most famous trainer, Dave O'Sullivan.

One of the O'Sullivan horses he had in his barn was a two-year-old filly named Do Si Do, who he was asked to take through to trials - which she won - and then to the races - which she also won. The special thing about Do Si Do was that she was owned by Dave O'Sullivan, who made the decision to leave her with the tyro trainer rather than take her into his own stable.

"It was the biggest break of my career." Recall Richard. By the end of her two-year-old season Do Si Do had won four of her five starts, including a Group One race - the ultimate but sometimes never realised goal of any horse trainer. Do Si Do's achievements ensured Richard of a stable full of racehorses, and his continued success was the springboard to buying his own 15-acre property is more than happy with his life, encompassing a solid international clientele, good quality horses and a partnership comprising his wife Jo and three young children.

"From both a professional and family point of view, life can get a bit hectic at times," he says, "but it's always interesting, you get to meet some wonderful people, and while ours mightn't be a lavish lifestyle, it certainly has plenty of quality."