A TRAILBLAZER FOR female jockeys, Katie Walsh became one of Ireland’s best-loved sportspeople during a glittering career in the saddle.
Highlights included major wins at the Cheltenham Festival and in the Irish Grand National, before she announced her retirement “on her own terms” in April 2018 — bowing out immediately after riding one last winner at Punchestown.
In this episode of Humans of Horse Racing, the Betway ambassador talks about growing up with horses as part of a racing dynasty, overcoming the struggles attached to a childhood stammer, the valuable lessons 15 years as a jockey taught her and what drives her now she is retired.
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Katie on the gallops with Thousand Stars. The42
The42
“You learn great life lessons,” Walsh says, speaking at the yard her and husband Ross O’Sullivan work out of in Kill, County Kildare, “talking to trainers, talking to owners, bursting people’s bubbles and trying to keep people happy.
“It’s not all about riding horses. When you come back in to people and they’re disappointed you need to know how to conduct yourself and how to talk. It’s not a nice place to be.
When you’ve made a mistake, most people will come back in and say ‘My fault, sorry about that’. You need to be able to do that in all walks of life. There’s no room for bullshit — there’s none.”
She adds: “We were very lucky because I retired on my own terms. It was my decision and it’s not like the phone wasn’t ringing anymore. A lot of people are forced to retire because maybe they’re not getting picked and they find themselves sitting on the sideline, so the decision is made for them.
“I was lucky because I said ‘I’m going to get out of here now while the sun is shining’. That makes it a lot easier.”
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'There were definitely hard times': The valuable life lessons Katie Walsh learned as a jockey
A TRAILBLAZER FOR female jockeys, Katie Walsh became one of Ireland’s best-loved sportspeople during a glittering career in the saddle.
Highlights included major wins at the Cheltenham Festival and in the Irish Grand National, before she announced her retirement “on her own terms” in April 2018 — bowing out immediately after riding one last winner at Punchestown.
In this episode of Humans of Horse Racing, the Betway ambassador talks about growing up with horses as part of a racing dynasty, overcoming the struggles attached to a childhood stammer, the valuable lessons 15 years as a jockey taught her and what drives her now she is retired.
“You learn great life lessons,” Walsh says, speaking at the yard her and husband Ross O’Sullivan work out of in Kill, County Kildare, “talking to trainers, talking to owners, bursting people’s bubbles and trying to keep people happy.
“It’s not all about riding horses. When you come back in to people and they’re disappointed you need to know how to conduct yourself and how to talk. It’s not a nice place to be.
She adds: “We were very lucky because I retired on my own terms. It was my decision and it’s not like the phone wasn’t ringing anymore. A lot of people are forced to retire because maybe they’re not getting picked and they find themselves sitting on the sideline, so the decision is made for them.
“I was lucky because I said ‘I’m going to get out of here now while the sun is shining’. That makes it a lot easier.”
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