KATE Kerr-Horan is one of Ireland’s top para dressage riders. A lifetime of dedication to riding and horsemanship at her home in Broomfield, Tinahely, Co Wicklow has seen her selected to represent Ireland numerous times.

At age three, she was found unconscious in the fields at her family’s home, where they think she had been kicked by a horse. She was placed in an induced coma for 12 days and needed a tracheostomy with pieces of her ribs inserted into her vocal chords to help her breath until she was 11 years old.

The entire left side of her body was also paralysed. She spent a year in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dublin, where she learned to walk and speak again.

Remarkable

With true grit and determination, Kate made a remarkable recovery and has been able to fulfil her dream as an international dressage rider.

She has a degree in Equine Business from NUI Maynooth, is a qualified riding instructor and helps her mother Pam run their family business, the Broomfield Equestrian Centre.

Earlier this week, she spoke to The Irish Field about her career to date, and her hopes and ambitions for the future.

“My family have always been involved in horses. My mum had me on a pony before I could walk and I fell in love with ponies.

“In the beginning, I was just showing really, I did some lead rein classes before my accident an even after that continued.

“But eventually, that didn’t have the same draw for me that the flatwork did, and I found myself more and more interested in dressage.

“In 2007, when I was 14 years old, I was at a show in Kildare and was approached by Dara Kearney to join Para Equestrian Ireland,” Kate explained.

“That is really when my competitive career began. Donie McNamara became my trainer and still is to this day. We have found him to be the best para dressage coach in the country. He understands the challenges so well.

“One of the main differences between able-bodied dressage and para dressage is there is so much more focus on the horse’s walk and a lot of trainers overlook that, they don’t focus on it.

“You need a good trainer that will help you achieve a good rhythm and good overtrack in the walk. If you have to do movements in it - I have to do circles - that the rhythm and fluency doesn’t change. It has to stay the same throughout.

“Also, we have free walk, I can’t let go of my reins; I have looped reins and find it too hard to let go and then pick them up again. So, I lean forward with my hands on either side of the neck and that allows the horse to stretch out. So, we have to work on that.

“The first horse I had that was able to compete at a high level would have been Arlande. I went to my first championships with her in 2013 in Denmark. She was a big step-up for me. She was a schoolmaster and taught me a huge amount. She is the one that got me onto the international stage.

“I am Grade lll, which is walk and trot, but we do have the option to canter. I find my horses tend to get bored just walking and trotting, so I like to take the canter option with them.

“Over the next five years, Arlande and I did three Europeans and the World Championships in 2014 in France, where we finished ninth. We finished eighth at the European Championships in 2017 and she was retired in 2018. She is still here with us today enjoying her life.

“My next horse was Serafina T. We got her from Wales. She didn’t have that much experience, but had a very big walk, and a trot that we felt we could build and improve on.”

Kate Kerr-Horan of Ireland on Serafina T competes in the Grade III Individual Test at the Equestrian Park on day three during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan \ Sportsfile

Personal best

The duo had impressive results together in 2019, placing high in three-star competitions in Doha, Waregem, Kronenberg and Hartpury before making the podium in Keysoe, where they scored their personal best score of 71% in the Freestyle.

“We were lucky enough to be selected for the Paralympics in Tokyo in 2021. We learned a lot there. I remember it was so hot there that you couldn’t ride during the day. You could ride before 9am or after 4pm, so most of our riding was in the dark under floodlights and that was something really different.

“We didn’t get on as well as we hoped, but we learned so much, like changing our training schedule when we had to and adapting to things when they weren’t going quite as well as they could have,” Kate reflects.

“The following year was the World Championships and I had learned to cope with her much better when she got a bit tricky. The team finished eighth or ninth there, which was a great result for us.

“The next year, unfortunately she picked up an injury. She is a very big mare and she’s very hard on herself. We began to look for another horse and we found Lykkebo’s Don Akino. He is Danish-bred, but we found him in England.

Paris upset

“I had been selected for Paris with Serafina but because she was lame and Lykkebo’s Don Akino had been named a reserve, I was able to substitute him and compete. Taking him was a bit of an upset to the system.

“I had gone from my experienced horse, who I knew well, to my green, new mount at the Paralympic Games, but it worked out. He coped very well, which is a good sign for the future for us.

“There was a huge amount to look at in Paris, and we had only done a couple of classes together, so it was a big ask.We took a break after Paris and when I brought him back into work we decided to concentrate on giving him exposure to everything.

“At the moment, we are taking him to lots of venues and allowing him to see it all and build up again.

“I’m qualified at Novice for the Winter Championships and have one qualifying score at Elementary (both able-bodied).

“The big plan for this year is to hopefully qualify and be selected for the European Championships in Holland in September. But in the short-term, we’re headed to the National Sports Arena on Sunday.

“My mother Pam is a fantastic help to me. She does so much for me, and always has. I couldn’t do any of this without her.

“I’m on the lookout for another horse to add to the team. We have found that recently, suitable para horses are getting harder and harder to find these days, so we are hoping that the right one comes our way.”