Olympic riders with ‘real’ jobs are a rarity in this era, but Harald Ambros, who represented Austria in Paris last year, juggles eventing at the highest level with a full-time job as a dentist – the same profession held by 2008 Olympic champion Hinrich Romeike.

Harald, 45, who was Young Rider European champion in 2001, is competing at Badminton for the first time in 18 years, having been 18th on Miss Ferrari in 2007. He is now aiming for this year’s European championships at Blenheim, which would be his 13th senior cap for Austria, with Vitorio du Montet.

“I started training in February,” he explained, “and the last six weeks have been very hard. I ride in the morning at 5.30am, then start work [as a dentist] at 7.30 and am sometimes working all day, before training again in the evening.

“This year reminds me of 2007 – the course is running clockwise and the weather is nice!”

Other riders with full-time jobs include Portuguese rider Manuel Grave, who farms bulls and crops, New Zealander Lauren Innes, who is a chartered accountant, Britain’s Libby Seed is a specialist in medical devices, French rider Arthur Marx, who works in a stationary shop, and Belgian riders Wouter de Cleene, a manager with a road construction company, and Seppe Vilain, a civil engineer.