Back-breaking work 12 hours per day may not sound like the dream job for most, but Dawn Fox, manager of Seaview stables, would not have it any other way.

The boarding stable houses six horses and two ponies. Caring for the animals and the 13-acre facility as well as teaching riders fills most waking hours of the day.

Seated on a tack box, the slender and cheerful Ms Fox said: "I start work at 7 a.m. and usually work until 7 p.m. If there is a horse show I work seven days a week."

Having just finished a riding lesson she had a brief break before feeding the horses their lunchtime hay.

Meanwhile farrier Karl Terceira is shoeing her horse Lancelot, and riders regularly pop their heads into the neat tack room to ask questions or offer feedback on the Seaview experience. The atmosphere was friendly and positive.

Ms Fox seemed unperturbed by her heavy work load. Unlike many horse owners Ms Fox does not even get help with the burdensome task of mucking out. "Doing it myself saves me spending money on a gym fee," she laughed. "I really don't mind doing it, although it is physically tiring.

"I love all aspects of my work, the feeding, the grooming, the teaching. But not clipping the horses. Its back breaking, hair everywhere and the horses don't stand still. "Even when the weather is bad I love being in the barn, hearing the horses munching their hay. Its very cosy."

Working with horses is clearly a lifestyle choice for Ms Fox, who explained that her hobby is her own horse Lancelot whom she bought recently and has already trained to compete successfully in dressage.

But it is not just about winning ribbons. Ms Fox said: "Teaching is very rewarding. Seaview is such a small stable and everybody is behind everybody, supporting each other. I have taught kids terrified of riding who have regained their confidence. Others have done well competitively and have represented Bermuda abroad," she continued.

One such example is Claire Howard, who represented Bermuda in the FEI (International Equestrian Federation) World Jumping Challenge in Chili this year, where she finished first, third and seventh in the four-foot show jumping on a borrowed horse. Claire also won both her show jumping classes at the 2009 Annual Exhibition on her horse 'Just A Rose'.

Ms Fox said: "The opportunity to go to Chili as Ms Howard's coach was awesome. It was amazing to meet people from all 19 countries that were represented. The facilities were lovely and we met many people and made new friends."

Ms Fox takes every opportunity to further enhance her equestrian knowledge and recently went to the 'Professional Riders Clinic and Symposium in Florida', which she said was a great learning experience.

Ms Fox and her clients also make the most of the opportunity to train with instructors who come to Bermuda from abroad throughout the year.

She said: "We are so privileged in Bermuda to be able to train with such good instructors from overseas. Elsewhere one would not have such access to high quality instructors.

"I am also very lucky to have people like the Bermudian Olympic show jumper Patrick Nisbett who gives me a lot of advise over the phone from Europe where he is based. There is also US-based Bermudian Dressage rider Chris Taylor who comes to the Island to give clinics regularly as well as American Mary Werning to name but a few.

Ms Fox, originally from Derbyshire in the UK, qualified as an instructor in England before she came to Bermuda in 1986. At the time she was working at a show barn in the UK and was only meant to spend a year in Bermuda.

She has now been running Seaview Stables for 11 years and is still full of enthusiasm. Her husband Steven helps out after work and has been a great help, especially in supporting Ms Fox at horse shows. "I could not do it without him," she explained.

And her plans for the future? "I just want to continue doing what I am doing," said the inexhaustible Ms Fox.