Dressage for success

Equestrienne Kate Kyros Aims High After Record Breaking Year

by Andrew Hamilton

Kate Kyros was destined to follow two paths. Her father Dean Kyros (Class of 1992) was an early Bondy and it was the only university Kate applied to.

A parental decree to attend a sport camp while on a family holiday to The Hamptons when Kate was 10 revealed her sporting destiny.

“I chose horse riding and ever since then I’ve loved it,” she said.

Mum Heather was delighted. She had grown up riding but knowing the incredible commitment it takes to be a success, the decision had to be Kate’s. It is a fair commitment for the parents too, both financially, in importing the world-class European horses Intro K and Chemistry that Kate rides in competition, and in time. The pair have navigated an estimated 200,000km of Australian highways delivering Kate from event to event.

“Mum absolutely loves it, but she wasn’t going to push me into it like some parents do,” she said.

“I didn’t start riding until I was 10 and nine months after buying my first pony I won a national title.”

A further 15 national titles in show jumping and dressage followed until Kate's elevation to the Young Riders division this year. She has taken the field by storm, setting a new Australian record of 72.402 per cent in the Individual event at the internationally-ranked Dressage by the Sea. Jammed in among her five weekly training sessions is the course load for a double degree in Business and Law.

“It has always been, ‘Get good grades and then you can ride horses’, so I've always juggled.’’

Long term, Kate wants to use her education to elevate equestrian’s profile through increased sponsorship and broadcast deals. And of course, there’s the Olympics.

“The oldest competitors at the Olympics are always in the dressage because it takes so long to train the horses and learn all the different skills to work up the ranks,” she said.

“I just have to keep working and improving.’’