IRELAND has long celebrated international successes in eventing and show jumping, but dressage sometimes struggled at the top level. “There is a longer history of show jumping and eventing in Ireland, they have bigger numbers, more established breeding and production programmes,” commented Anne Marie Dunphy. “We are still a relatively small developing dressage nation, but gaining momentum all the time. While the other disciplines may dominate in terms of strength and depth, it is important to recognise the success of our top dressage athletes at international and Olympic level to date and the importance of the High Performance Pathway going forwards.”
Having competed internationally for many years, the Kilkenny native is now one of Ireland’s leading dressage coaches. First-hand, she sees the excellent progress Irish riders are making in the discipline.
In her role as HSI high performance manager for senior riders (she took up this role in 2023) and youth riders, she is now nurturing a plethora of dressage enthusiasts aiming for the stars. Thanks to new initiatives, including the trailblazer competitions for pony riders, she said numbers nationally are growing year on year.
“I was appointed as Horse Sport Ireland youth high performance manager in 2013 prior to the Pony European Championships at Millstreet. I started putting together a pathway for the youth riders. Now we have programmes for ponies, children, juniors, young riders and under 25s. We’ve had representations at championships in most of those divisions every year since. Having a high-performance programme means there is a structure in place. When we see youths transition to seniors, it shows that the pathway is working.”
Dunphy was particularly proud to have fielded many youth teams, including a pony dressage team for the European Championships in Budapest, Hungary in 2020 during Covid, where they finished seventh. “At that championship, we were one of the only teams to have two boys and two girls competing.”
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Anne Marie Dunphy flying the flag for Ireland in her role as High Performance Manager at the 2025 Youth European Championships \ Horse Sport Ireland
Making waves
Many of these team members are now making waves at junior, young rider and senior level, another testament to the pathway initiatives put in place to encourage youth riders to pursue their goals in the sport.
Although Dunphy did not come from a horsey background, she too started riding ponies at a young age. “I grew up in Castlecomer in Co Kilkenny. My late father Paddy was a successful breeder and trainer of greyhounds, but there was always the odd horse or pony around for me to hunt and do pony club. I rode well, but anything I did back then was at a low level - nothing serious. That all came later.”
Paddy Dunphy was one of the few to have bred, owned and trained a winner of the English Derby. That was the greyhound, The Grand Canal.
When Dunphy left school, she spent a year studying equitation science in Thomastown (now Grennan College). “That was a great introduction to coaching and riding horses. Joanne Jarden, who was recently appointed to the judges’ panel for the forthcoming World Eventing Championships, was there at the same time. We had tutoring from Faith Ponsonby and Bridgette McCarthy, both very knowledgeable coaches.
“When I left college, I knew I wanted to work with horses. Back then there was less specialisation, unless your family was involved in a certain discipline. It was a case of getting into horses and see where it takes you. Concentrating on dressage alone would have been rare for a lot of people.
“Looking back, I think it was a good thing that I didn’t specialise too early, as I got to do a bit of everything, getting experience across the industry, and I recommend this for all up-and-coming equestrians.”
Next steps
Ater her year in Thomastown, she did some show jumping and eventing. She also spent five years with Jim Bolger, during which she rode in some amateur races. “I was able to do that part-time and then come home and ride a few young horses that I was bringing along. I had also started coaching.”
After her stint in Bolger’s, Dunphy went to work at Portlaoise Equestrian Centre. That was the mid-1990s. “They ran an equestrian and stable management course at the time, and I helped to oversee it. That had a huge uptake, including students from overseas.”
It was during her stint in Portlaoise that she met her partner, well-known photographer, Alf Harvey. “Alf wasn’t horsey at all at the time, but he is now! He loves being around the horses, helping with them when I’m away coaching or on high performance duties and coming to shows as top groom and, of course, taking the odd photo and video!”
Dunphy was in her 20s when she first took an interest in dressage. “If I am being totally honest, I found that it was where my talent lay more so than jumping or eventing.”
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Anne Marie Dunphy and Urbanus, back to back Irish national champions, 2016 and 2017 \ Alf Harvey
Helping hands
She counts Van de Vater and Susan Patterson among those who were hugely helpful in the early days. “I was very lucky to train with some amazing people. When I started to transition from eventing to dressage, Van was helping me. He had a huge amount of experience coming from the eventing world. As time went on, I then started to train with Susan. She is a very experienced horsewoman.
“As I started to get more serious about it, I attended training with Conrad Schumacher. He had been brought over by the late Joan Keogh at Spruce Lodge. He was one of the top trainers in the world. I suppose that was a big turning point for me in terms of dressage, as I was also able to spend time with him training in Germany. He had a big influence on me and was a very inspirational coach.
“He never minded what horse you were riding. If you showed you were interested, that was all that mattered. He had a very good way with ‘normal’ horses and teaching you how to get the best out of them. He wasn’t just interested in the ones that were going to win medals.
“He was very keen to develop riders who could also coach, train horses and progress the sport in their country, something I have always tried to emulate. With Joan Keogh, he presented the ‘Training the Trainers’ series at Spruce Lodge, which ran for many years and had a loyal following of coaches and riders from all disciplines.”
Silver Tassie
Dunphy recalls some of her early horses. “One was a thoroughbred called Silver Tassie that had been in training with Jim Bolger. He had stopped racing due to injury, and I was lucky to be able to ride him up to Medium level. It was long before people were retraining racehorses as riding horses.”
“Another was Bertle Wortle, who was owned by Maggie Ogden White when she lived at Kiltinane Castle. I got him up to Prix St Georges level.”
Dunphy’s first international horse was Mercury. “He had come from Yvette Truesdale and I did a few CDIs on him.
“Then came a few other horses that got me to internationals, including Egano S (by Espri). He was my first Grand Prix horse and had come from Hans Kuehnle. When I retired him, Rachel Dowley took over at junior level. Anthony Byrne also had him for a year and competed him at the Young Rider European Dressage Championships in Holland.”
Dunphy has enjoyed many days competing abroad. “Another horse I rode at Grand Prix level was Urbanus. He was by Ronaldo and came from Holland as a four-year-old. I got him here from Fiona Langmaid. He went on to compete and be placed at the Hickstead Masters and a few CDIs. Every horse you train to Grand Prix is special, but I was really proud to be national champion twice with him in 2016 and 2017.”
It was also in 2016 that Anne Marie Dunphy was voted HSI Coach of the Year. “It was lovely to win that. It was in recognition of the youth programme.”
Another horse she rode to win nationally and compete internationally was the Hanoverian, Her Highness Willow, a mare by His Highness owned by Jo Breheny. She went on to breed one foal, LEB Hugo (by Woodlander Rockstar), also a championship winner on the national circuit up to Small Tour with Dunphy in the saddle. He was sold in 2025.
Coaching
As Dunphy continued to compete in the early days, she was able to fund it through her ever-expanding coaching business. “To further my coaching qualifications, I went the HSI route and did Level 1 and Level 2, and then Level 3. I also did the Sport Ireland/HSI coach developer course to train coaches. That was at UCL under Liam Moggin. I loved that course, as coaches from all sports were working together and Liam is a brilliant coach and mentor.
“In the early days, I did a lot with the pony club and riding club. As time progressed, I started to get more involved in dressage. I had my regular dressage clients, but there was also a shift in other disciplines and event riders and show jumpers were taking up coaching in dressage to improve their flatwork.
“When I did the HSI Level 1 and 2 in dressage, I also did the show jumping and eventing modules, and this gave me a great base knowledge as to what the high-level show jumpers and eventers want. I know what they need for their discipline.
“That has really developed in recent years. Show jumpers, especially youth riders, see the importance of good flatwork when producing horses to sell.
“Take the Dublin Horse Show last year, I was there one of the days watching the young horse jumping classes and the standard of riding from the young riders was excellent. To see how they produce their horses is lovely.”
Dunphy, herself, has some young horses coming on and, in between her coaching commitments, still enjoys the national circuit.
“I have a lovely six-year-old mare named Pedigree OK, who came from Holland as a three-year-old. She is by Le Formidable and was national preliminary champion and DI four-year-old champion in 2024. Last year, she won the five-year-old DAFM Studbook Series scoring 87.4% and was national novice champion. She is a super athlete with a lot of elasticity, trainability and a fantastic work ethic. She has it all!
“The DAFM Studbook and Development series for dressage horses has been up and running a few years and is a great incentive with the aim of identifying and promoting young horses with championship potential.”
Dunphy also has the seven-year-old Oopsydaisy YLS, another KWPN import who is showing much promise. “By OO Seven, she has all the makings of a Grand Prix horse. I love her power and energy.”
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Anne Marie Dunphy with Oopsy Daisy YLS \ Alf Harvey
Future plans
Looking ahead to 2026, there is a lot of preparation to be done for upcoming championships and Anne Marie Dunphy is eagerly looking forward to working with riders, from ponies right through to seniors.
With regards to the youth this year, the pony championships are in Le Mans in France.
The junior and children championships are in Olomouc, Czech Republic and the young riders and under 25s take place in Budapest, Hungary.
“The (Senior) FEI World Championships are in Aachen. It is a big task to field a team for Aachen, but that is the aim for us and it is part of our LA2028 Roadmap. Together with the European Championships in Denmark in 2027, they are the two team qualifiers for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“Alongside our established riders, we have others who I hope will get international experience this year, which will improve our strength and depth.
“Our youth riders are very talented and producing their horses and ponies in a really good way. We also have some senior and youth riders who have recently declared for Ireland, and others who are in the process of doing so, which is very exciting.”
In recent weeks, Dressage Ireland introduced travel bursaries of €500 to support both senior and youth Irish-based international riders. These bursaries aim to assist with the costs of competing abroad and are available to athletes who achieve scores of 60% or higher at international shows (excluding freestyle classes).
Furthermore, riders who qualify for and compete at the FEI World Championships or youth European championships will be eligible to claim a second bursary.
Drawing on her extensive experience as an athlete, coach, manager and chef d’equipe, Anne Marie Dunphy believes that whether progressing through the national levels, transitioning to international or targeting championships, a solid pathway and performance planning are vitally important for all athletes.
“It’s an aspect I really enjoy,” she concluded.