A member of the Irish high performance team since 2011, Tinahely native Kate’s riding has gone from strength to strength over the last decade, placing high in three-star dressage competitions in Doha, Waregem, Kronenberg and Hartpury in 2019, before making the podium in Keysoe with a personal best score of 71 per cent in the freestyle event and representing Ireland at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
When Kate was a toddler, she was found unconscious in the family’s fields, possibly kicked by a horse, and her parents were told she might not walk again.
She spent a year in the National Rehabilitation Hospital, needing a tracheostomy, where pieces of her ribs were inserted into her vocal cords to help her breathe, and was left weaker on her left side (hemiplegia).
Determined to continue her family’s long equestrian tradition, Kate’s inspirational recovery has seen her not only ride but compete in able-bodied and para-dressage at a high level, as well as complete a degree in Equine Business from NUI Maynooth and become a qualified riding instructor.
Making her Paralympic debut in Tokyo in 2020, Covid restrictions, spectators and the events taking place at night impeded her performance levels, with Kate finishing outside the top ten and leaving her with a sense of unfinished business.
This time around, having competed in four international competitions this year to compete for the Irish para-equestrian team, Kate is in fine form ahead of the Paris Paralympic Games, and with the tireless support of her mother Pam, with whom she runs Broomfield Equestrian Centre, Kate is ready to take the reins for Team Ireland once again.
“My mum is coming, and she’s going to be driving my horse over, and I have two friends who are coming out to help us and a few of my family coming over as spectators,” Kate said.
“Family and friends will be tuning in from home too, so there will be no lack of support!
“My horse will be vetted on September 2, which it will have to pass for me to be able to compete. Then, if all goes well, my first day of competition will be in the Grade III Individual.
“Depending on how the first day goes, I may qualify for the Grand Prix Freestyle. Then the day before the freestyle is the team competition, with the team of three picked from our scores on the first day.
“So, the pressure is really on for the first day to get the best score I can.
Asked about how her preparations for the Paris Paralympic Games have compared to her experience at the Tokyo 2020 games, Kate replied: “I’m apprehensive about the big crowds because I have never experienced anything like it, and I want to focus on my horse.
“Tokyo was a very confined experience with Covid – we could go nowhere. We were very restricted in what we could do and we had to wear masks all the time. There were no spectators, so there was no support and no atmosphere of it being a Paralympic Games.
“In Tokyo, I really lacked that competition exposure you need going into a championship. I hadn’t competed in any international competitions that year because we were worried about Covid.
“It was very different, and because of the temperatures over there, we weren’t competing until half nine or ten thirty, so it made the days very long and it had a big impact.
“Because it was so late, there were floodlights, which created a very different atmosphere for the horses, and my horse reacted to the false light and the shadows.
“That was her first championship experience, and there was a very big expectation on her when we weren’t really prepared for what we had to do.”
“I didn’t ride my best, and finished just outside the top ten, but I was happy enough with my performance, especially as I hadn’t competed in any international competitions that year.”
Adding to the obstacles Kate has overcome en route to Paris, her original selection horse, Serafina T, was recently ruled out after suffering a minor injury while preparing for the Games.
Kate will now compete on her nine-year-old reserve mount, Lykkebo’s Don Akino, whom she said, like herself, lacks the experience performing in front of big audiences.
“I was selected on Seraphina T, but she picked up an injury at the last selection competition, and sadly, she’s not going to be right, so my reserve horse is going to replace her,” Kate explained.
“It will affect me, as I’ve only had my young horse a year, and he’s very inexperienced.
“He’s got a good bit of competition experience this year, but it’s going to be a big ask on him, especially with the crowds that are going to be there.
“He hasn’t experienced anything like this and until we got him, he didn’t have that much competition experience, and I hope we can pull together in Paris.”
Thanking her Kilkenny and Wexford-based sponsors for supporting her with free feed and the loan of an electric wheelchair for the games, Kate provided an insight into the hefty financial and time costs associated with travelling to international competitions.
“I have to mention two of my sponsors, Connolly’s Red Mills in Goresbridge, Kilkenny, who are sponsoring the horse feed for me, and Freedom Scooters in Courtown, Wexford, who are very kindly giving me a loan of an electric wheelchair,” Kate said.
“Connolly’s Red Mills heard I was going, and my horse is on a lot of their feed, so we approached them and they said they would be delighted to sponsor me
“With Freedom Scooters, we were looking at some of their scooters, and when we were talking, we mentioned that I can’t bring my own electric scooter into the athlete’s village, so they said we might be able to get an electric wheelchair for you.
“It is a huge honour to be selected to represent my country again, but I must say that there is a lot of expense and time that goes along with travelling to meet the criteria for selection,” she continued.
“Under the criteria for selection, we had to compete in joint national shows, and it was recommended that we do three, with at least one in Europe. There are no international shows here in Ireland so there has been a lot of expense gone into travelling.
“I have done four internationals, including three in England and one in Belgium. One was in Hickstead, south of London, and two on this side of London, but we still had to get a ferry and do a lot of driving to get to them.
“The one in Belgium was close to the French border, and it was two ferries, driving across England, and with the horse, you can only drive for so many hours before you have to stop to give the horse a break.
“That requires a lot of planning because you have to do two stopovers overnight.
“Thankfully, if you get a certain percentage, you get your entry fee back from Horse Sport Ireland, but the financial support beyond that is minimal for us as para riders.
“That’s why the sponsorship is such a big help.”
Colin Judge will be Ireland's flagbearer along with track and field sprinter Orla Comerford during the Paralympics opening ceremony in Paris on Wednesday
The Irishman goes into the Games after a hugely encouraging display in his final warm-up tournament when finishing runner-up at the Czech Open.
