Philip first took up riding in the British Army, after a brief spell as an apprentice jockey , in a mounted unit called the King's Troop. He spent ten years there, doing ceremonial work, breaking and training horses , and taking part in the world-famous Musical Ride as a lead driver. He also hunted, evented , show-jumped and did mounted skill-at-arms, such as tent-pegging. Prior to leaving The King's Troop, he passed his British Horse Society Instructor's test .
He spent some time in Austria teaching , then came to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1974 as Chief Instructor of The Halifax Junior Bengal Lancers .He eventually did free-lance teaching and spent most weekends show-jumping in Intermediate and Open classes on several different horses .He returned to England in 1980 to join The Royal Mews , where he breaks and trains young horses to saddle and eventually to harness . His favourite role there is when he acts as outrider to her Majesty's carriage procession during ceremonial occasions . His particular interests lie with dressage and show-jumping , and he spent three weeks at the French Equitation School in Saumur several years ago.
His current favourites are the three youngsters he is working on presently . They are Harrington Marconi,Stevenson, and Harmony, a grand-daughter of the famous Nijinsky.
Apart from horses, Philip's enthusiasms include his two Jack Russell terriers , music, and flying , as he has a private pilot's licence. A new hobby is flying a flight simulator on his computer .
Dee is from Halifax , Nova Scotia, and first took up riding at the Halifax Junior Bengal Lancers in her early 20's after obtaining her BSc. from Dalhousie. She went to England in 1977 to study and pass her British Horse Society Assistant Instructor's exam .She owned a horse and did some dressage and eventing with him in Nova Scotia prior to moving to England in 1982 and still teaches on a free-lance basis. She works as a medical research technician at a large medical school in south London . Her chief interest in horses is eventing , and she has been a regular fence-judge on cross-country day at Windsor Three-Day- Event for eight years.
She has also taught and judged dressage and show-jumping at many riding club events in London, and has shown in riding horse classes. Her hobbies included reading, early music, cooking and her much-loved Apple Mac computer.