Kate Dwyer

Ireland’s dressage star tells Polly Bryan about her love for the part-bred Shire who’s winning at CDI5* and excitement at Ireland “joining the Olympic party”

- Polly Bryan

KATE DWYER may be one of the few dressage riders in the world who can say that 2020 has yielded great things. At one of the last international shows to take place before the coronavirus pandemic took hold, the Al Shaqab CHI5* in Doha, Qatar, Kate and her remarkable partner, the 14-year old Snowdon Faberge, scored their first-ever international win. They also made history for Ireland by becoming the first Irish combination ever to win a CDI5* grand prix special.

It wasn’t Kate’s first history-making moment, either. In 2019, she and “Fabio” were part of the Irish quartet dubbed “the girls in green”, who memorably secured their country’s first-ever dressage team place at the Olympics. It’s not bad going, especially for a horse that Kate has recently learned is part-bred Shire.

“We always thought he was part-bred Welsh cob, but his breeder, Lorraine Hughes, got in touch with me after the Euros and it turns out one of his dam’s parents is a Shire horse. I’m not sure why we were surprised though – his head is as big as my torso and his feet are like dinner plates. I always used to joke that he could go off and plough a field after our test!” Kate tells me, as we chat overlooking the magnificent Al Shaqab stadium back in early spring.

It’s the day before her win in the grand prix special and Kate recalls the excitement of the Irish team’s result at the Europeans, and her hopes of Olympic selection. Just over three weeks later, the Tokyo Games would be officially postponed to 2021, but Kate is not letting it deter her from her goal of competing at the Olympics with her beloved Fabio.