The final piece on our Interview Series on The Dressage National Championship 2022.

This is our first ever group interview we’ve here at The Grassroots Gazette so we kept this special feature piece until the last in our series. It was a real pleasure getting to hear from the team and seeing how they support each and prepare for an event like this.

We had the pleasure of Interviewing the Regional Team Champions at The Dressage National Championships. The South-East Region Senior Team namely Anne Marie Dunphy, Amy-Jo Peskens, Rachel Dowley and Paula Moriarty.

So lets kick this off and hear about the South-East Region Team and their incredible performance at The Dressage National Championships.

We started off by asking the team to introduce themselves and tell us a little about themselves.

Anne Marie Dunphy: International Grand Prix rider, HSI Level 3 Dressage coach, HSI Youth Dressage High Performance Director.

Amy-Jo Peskens: I am Amy (31), born in South Africa where I lived until I was 11. I now live just outside Gorey and keep my horse on DIY in Ballyellen Equestrian. I work in administration in UCD and although horses have always been a big part of my life, I am definitely an amateur.

Rachel Dowley: I’m Rachel, an international dressage rider and HSI Level II certified coach, based at my own competition yard in  Kilkenny. My business is centred around producing dressage horses and coaching a wide range of clients from pony club members to international riders.

Paula Moriarty: I’m Paula Moriarty, a science teacher working in Bridgetown College in Wexford since 2004. I started riding at Shelmalier Stables at the age of 9 and I trained for my BHSAI there through my school years. I worked as an instructor through my Leaving Certificate years of secondary school and college before taking a break. In recent years I have returned to a bit of teaching, helping at Pony Club rallies for the Killinick Pony Club. 

Next up we had to find out about all the teams horses for this weekend. It is a big event so Tell us about your horse this weekend?

Anne Marie Dunphy: LEB Hugo is a 9yr old Irish bred gelding competing at advanced medium and advanced levels. I was very pleased with his first three tests, especially the advanced. Unfortunately, he gave himself a minor knock and had to withdraw from the second advanced class. However, I was very pleased with him up to that point.

Amy-Jo Peskens:

Rachel Dowley:

Paula Moriarty: Solas Lae is a 7-year-old mare. Her stable name is Dawn, and she was bred by Rosalinda Devereux. She is out of a thoroughbred mare and by the Connemara Burning Daylight. We have done a bit of everything but have focused on dressage since January of this year.

Next up we really wanted to understand and hear how a senior team prepares for The National Championships. How do you prepare for an event like this?

Anne Marie: Regular training and competition programme throughout the year, gain qualifications early and then focus on the small details in the run up to the championships.

Amy-Jo: The preparations for this show started back in the summer when we attended regional DI shows to obtain our qualifying scores. In the weeks running up to these championships I continued my training with my two trainers Anne Marie Dunphy and Luke Drea and Lucy had a well-deserved Physio session with Emma Moran, I am very lucky to have their support and guidance. I also took Lucy to some unaffiliated shows to practice our tests in a competition environment.

Rachel: Preparation involves achieving the required scores at national shows which allow each horse to qualify at their respective levels, and then lots of training. Anne Marie Dunphy has helped me for almost twenty years, and I also train with Johann Hinneman through the High Performing Programme.

Paula: I try to get a few lessons each month. In the weeks before, the Nationals had lessons with Kate Dwyer and Michelle Kenny.

It is safe to say that preparation is key. We loved Anne Marie’s answer on gaining qualification early and then focusing on the small details in the run up to the championships. From interviewing competitors this seems to be a great model to follow and more importantly to excel. We wanted to know how it felt to win for them team; we know they’ve done it before but does the feeling change? Let’s find out.

How did it feel to win the Senior Team Championship over the weekend?

Anne-Marie: Very rewarding, we have won this championship on a number of occasions before and it was great to do it again for the South-East Region.

Amy-Jo: It was amazing. We all rode our ‘team tests’ on the Friday and knew we had some good scores, but we didn’t know how the other teams had done. The results were announced on Sunday and me and Rachel were there to collect the trophy. It was a great ending to the weekend.

Rachel: It made a lovely conclusion to the weekend. Dressage can be a very isolated pursuit, so to have collective success is especially enjoyable.

Paula: It was great. I hoped we would do well, but it was a nice surprise to win.

It takes a Village to win things like this and what a support group you all must have. Do you have any partners, people, or sponsors you’d like to thank or give a shout out to?

Anne Marie: I’m very fortunate to have the following sponsors whose support is invaluable to my success: @childericireland @topspec @kepitalia @zandona @darraghequestrian @vipequestrian @tredstepireland

Amy-Jo: It most definitely takes a village. I am so grateful to my trainers for keeping me on the right path. My parents were there on the weekend for moral support as well as my friend Fiona who was there all 3 days to support me and more importantly keep me calm! A special thanks to Elliot from Childeric Saddles who makes sure Lucy’s saddle fits her perfectly and to Shirley in TopSpec feeds, who has provided the prefect diet plan for Lucy.

Rachel: It takes a village to achieve results like we did at the weekend, so the people involved are too many name! In terms of sponsorship, I have worked with TopSpec for many years and more recently I am enjoying my new Childeric Saddles.

Paula: I have to thank my farrier, Paddy Quirke, as he has done a great job of improving Dawn’s feet. Dawn is a very good doer, and it is difficult to keep her weight in check so thank you to Shirley Jones of TopSpec, she is always on hand for feed advice.

What a wonderful team and dynamic they have, we felt this interview was special enough to keep it to the last in our series of 10+ interviews we did on The National Dressage Championships. After chatting with Anne Marie and some other competitors, dressage is something we certainly want to give more coverage to here at The Grassroots Gazette. It deserves more from the media and that is what we will deliver.

We loved doing this interview series on The Nationals; getting to know the competitors and winners along with who is supporting them and backing them was a lot of fun and a bit of an eye opener. We’ve learned a lot and will most certainly be at the event next year so we can do some onsite interviews and hopefully get to interview wonderful teams like the South East Region Senior Dressage Team in person.

Thanks to Anne Marie, Amy-Jo, Rachel and Paula and everyone else we had the pleasure of interviewing throughout this series on The National Dressage Championships. We’ve enjoyed every minute of it.

Until Next Time,

Shane