“We Just Got On”: Sarah Slattery on Horses, Home and Holding the Line in Para-Dressage
“We just got on.” That’s how Sarah Slattery describes meeting Savona — the horse that would carry her to international arenas and hold the line with her under Paralympic pressure. There’s no drama in how she says it. No overthinking. And that’s exactly what makes it land. The full podcast is available to listen back to now!
Sarah’s episode is about horses, of course. But it’s also about people — the kind that show up and keep showing up. The ones that pack up a life in Ireland and move it to Holland so she can train properly. The ones that mind the kids when she’s competing, that muck in when she’s knackered, that never treat this like it’s just her thing. Because it isn’t. This is a family operation, through and through.
When she talks about Savona, there’s no fluff. “She gives you nothing for free,” Sarah says, “but she gives everything if you ask right.” That’s it. That’s the job. That’s the relationship. You build trust, you listen, you adjust, and you ride with feel. There’s no shortcut. No matter what label’s been slapped on your grading sheet.
She also takes time to explain how the para grading system works — how every rider goes through the process, how it's designed to make things fair, and how each classification reflects what a rider can physically do in the saddle. Sarah rides in Grade V, and she lays it out simply, giving listeners a better understanding of what that means without overcomplicating it.
But this isn’t a moan. Sarah doesn’t do moaning. She does graft. She does 6am feeds and late-night training and ferrying kids between lorry ramps. She shows up. And she’s sharp when it comes to calling out the nonsense — in systems, in assumptions, in the way para riders are still expected to justify every inch of ground they cover.
What you get in this podcast is the unvarnished version. Horses, life, kids, logistics, pressure, ambition, compromise, and everything in between. No sugarcoating, no filter, just straight-talking from someone who’s earned the right to speak plainly.
Sarah’s plan, if she’d call it that, is just to keep doing the thing. Keep riding, keep improving, keep holding space for other riders coming up the line. Because it shouldn’t be this hard to access the sport. And it shouldn’t take a complete family relocation to get a fair go. But for now, it does. And she’s doing it anyway.
Sarah’s episode is out now – and it’s one of the realest conversations we’ve had yet.
