AT the tender age of 25, Westmeath veterinary surgeon Lucia Dawson-Stanley has certainly made an impression in the equestrian world, so much so that she has secured what many would say is the opportunity of a lifetime. Now the resident veterinarian for Paul Schockemöhle (Pferdehaltung GmbH), she will travel to the Tokyo Olympics as one of the vets to the Japanese team. Amazingly, her father, renowned farrier Jeremy Stanley, will also travel with the Japanese team as their official team farrier for what will be his third Olympics.

Lucia always knew that her future career would involve horses and as a child, always wanted to be a vet. “I grew up watching our own vet, Aidan Finnon, who was fantastic at explaining things, letting me get involved and really encouraged my dream to be a vet. I’ve always held it in the utmost regard and pictured it as my dream job. I don’t remember a time where I didn’t want to be a vet. I’ve always been obsessed with animals but especially horses. For me, they are everything.”

Lucia had much success in pony arenas, competing in the RDS and on European teams. However, her goal was never to ride full time. Her passion for veterinary would see her become involved in the top end of the sport.

“From a young age I travelled a lot and through the help of Edward Doyle, I got a job in America with Eamonn Hughes. When Michael Hughes wanted me to spend a summer in Europe, I flew with both his horses from JFK Airport to Amsterdam and went to many shows on the European circuit including the Nations Cup in Bratislava.” The experience of travelling horses stood to her and was one of the aspects that helped her secure her current role.

After spending six months with Hughes, Lucia took the entrance exam for Warsaw University of Life Science (SGGW) to study a doctorate in veterinary medicine, securing a place. Based in Europe, she could continue to ride and study, competing for Polish rider Jazek Zagor.

A summer spent working for American Olympian McLain Ward proved invaluable. “Castlehill Farm in New York felt like home for me. They were so welcoming and opened up so many doors for me. I learned so much in McLain’s and I will always be so grateful to him, his wife Lauren, Lee and Erica McKeever. After that first summer I returned to Poland. After I finished my exam season in January, McLain flew me out to Wellington to work for them at the show. It was an amazing experience. I made so many connections there and I’m so grateful for that.

“I did two more visits to Wellington after that. It was always such a treat to finish my exams in Poland in the -15 weather, then get on a plane and fly to sunny Miami for a month of horses and learning as a reward. McLain always supported my wishes to be a vet and put me in contact with many vets who I worked with on my stay in the States,” she adds.

The time seemed right to return home for another step in the journey. “I applied for a job with Bourns Sport Horses at Lisbeg farms in Galway. This was a fantastic role for me. That summer we did many shows and were very successful at the RDS with Jenny Rankin. It was here that I introduced McLain to ‘Bennys legacy’ which was then bought by a student of McLain’s – Adrienne Sternlicht. I loved taking care of Benny. He was such a special character of a horse and with the story that was behind him I had a great connection with him. My father Jeremy shod horses for the Kuehnles, who originally owned the horse, so I knew the horse well and was honoured to look after him.

“That summer we went to the Europeans in Gothenburg, it was a long three-day trip, but I made sure Benny arrived in top condition. It was a fantastic show for the Irish winning the Nations Cup. I was proud to be a part of the team. Benny jumped the Under 25s with Jenny Rankin and had many placings. At the end of the summer, I returned to university for another year. I was so grateful to Richard and Deirdre for everything they taught me and the wonderful summer I had there.”

In later years, Richard Bourns was at Schockemöhle buying horses where Jeremy is resident farrier. In a meeting with the manager at Schockemöhle, Richard remarked, ‘Jeremy is a fantastic farrier, the best there is, but have you met his daughter Lucia? Now she is a real horsewoman.’

“I didn’t hear this until I had accepted the job here in Schockemöhle and the manager told me. I was so proud to have this said about me and will always be grateful to Richard. I finished my studies in Warsaw in December 2020. The resident vet in Schockemöhle (Muhlen base) had just finished his time here and returned to his home country.

“Every year Schockemöhle has the PSI Auction (Performance Horses International). They needed extra help and asked if I would like to come for two weeks. I accepted and immediately fell in love with the place. It was never my plan to work in Germany but sometimes plans change. I returned after Christmas for more experience and the manager at the yard offered me the position of ‘resident veterinarian of Paul Schockemöhle Pferdehaltung GmbH’. Since then, I have been based here doing mainly orthopedics and emergency work. There are over 300 horses here so I’m kept busy!

Veterinary surgeon Lucia Dawson-Stanley at work on one of the Japanese team horses

Olympics calling

What Lucia learnt at McLain Ward’s gave her the experience that she needed for her current role. “In 2016 I was in McLain’s when he was getting ready to go to the Rio Olympics. I learned a lot in the lead up to the Olympics regarding preparations and flying with horses. Because of this, Paul Schockemöhle thought I would be a key component to the Japanese team, and would be beneficial to them. Now I travel with the horses to all the big shows before the Olympics and make sure they are fit, healthy, travel well, and deal with any emergencies that happen on the way as most shows are 20+ hours away.”

When Lucia flies to Tokyo, she will be flying with three horses and the grooms will go two days before and be waiting them to arrive. “These horses are athletes and need to arrive in top shape,” said Lucia.

Lucia Dawson-Stanley is resident veterinary surgeon at Schockemo¨hle Pferdehaltung GmbH in Germany

Busy role

Travelling to Tokyo is only one aspect of the job. “We have a fantastic team of reproductive vets that do all the breeding here at Muhlen but every veterinary need outside reproduction falls to me. This is a lot of responsibility and sometimes means 3am emergency calls, but I absolutely love my job! “Every two weeks we have an orthopedic specialist vet, Dr Ugo Carozzo, from Italy. It is an honour to work with him. He is the perfect teacher and, on every visit, I learn how to do something more. Dr Ugo Carozzo will be the official vet of the Japanese Olympic team and the Italian Olympic team. I am so honoured to be working with him on this journey and I think we make a great team for the Olympics.”

Working alongside her father Jeremy does have its advantages, not only for support, but for his expertise. “In dealing with lameness in horses, a good farrier is key. I’m so lucky that that person just happens to be my father. Ever since I was a small child, he would have me watching horses trot up at our Glasson-based farm in Co Westmeath. He would always have special cases of lameness. This early development of my eye for lameness has been a key factor in my career. Having him here is amazing. We work together a lot and make a fantastic team!

“Jeremy has had horses he’s shod go to the Olympics before including MHS Going Global but he did not get to go himself as it was one horse on a team. This will be a special year for him as he will be the official farrier for the Japanese team and will travel to Tokyo with us.”

Rising to the challenges

As the Games loom, the biggest challenge for Lucia is to get the horses there in one piece. “We will start to acclimatize the horses to the Tokyo routine now – using the same feed and hay that we are allowed to at the Olympics now to get them used to it. I will try to make the flight as stress-free as possible and make sure they get there in top physical and mental form. I’m hoping my experience of flying horses from the States to Europe will help.”

Lucia has put all the preparations in place, and although the journey will be challenging, she is ready for the trip. Her birthday falls in August and she says her perfect present would be a gold medal!