‘People thought I was mad’: rider heading to London International on horse who got her back in the saddle after 20-year break

A rider who took a 20-year hiatus from the show ring is bound for London International Horse Show aboard the horse who got her back into the saddle, Kinsales Irish Emerald (Timmy).

Katie Radcliffe has qualified her six-year-old gelding for both middleweight/heavyweight hunter and working hunter supreme finals in the British Show Horse Association’s Rising Star series. The pair landed their tickets at Wiltshire Spring Show and at Bridgend, respectively.

During her childhood, Katie, who comes from a non-horsey family, rode working hunter ponies. Her last ride before she hung up her boots was a 15hh worker who she qualified for Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) and the Royal International (RIHS). She gave up riding aged 20.

“I wanted to go and experience the world,” says Katie, who works as an associate professor of psychology at the University of Bath. “I went travelling for two years, and then moved to London to get onto the career ladder. Then I moved to Somerset with my now husband and had two kids. Soon, I was asking myself what was missing, and I settled on that it was a horse!”

Katie began looking for a horse during lockdown and a tip-off from her friend Stephanie Fitt led her to Timmy.

“She put my in touch with John Mulconroy in Ireland who sent me various pictures of horses,” Katie explains. “When I saw Timmy, I fell in love. I was dead set on him from the first photo I saw of him. We never went over to Ireland as he wasn’t backed but after some negotiations with my husband, Timmy was sent over to me. Even the transporters who dropped him off told me I had a good one on my hands.”

Timmy and Katie did a few flat classes in 2023, qualifying for London and finishing ninth at the final, on what was the then five-year-old’s fifth show.

Katie, who keeps Timmy on DIY livery on a small farm, says that her love for showing has been fully restored: “When I was first showing 20 years ago, all the entries were done on paper, and now everything is on the internet. I was also on ponies, so going into the ring is different. It’s been weird getting back into something you knew so well a very long time ago; sometimes I do question myself!

“I’m thrilled to be back out competing again, and Timmy has been the loveliest horse to get me going again. Some people thought I was mad to buy him after so long out of the saddle, but the gamble paid off. Timmy has the most wonderful, trainable temperament, and I trust him implicitly. I’m so excited for London!”

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