Main image: Bridget Murphy and Penmain Promise. Image by Click Capture.
Victorian Bridget Murphy has been horsey since the day she was born. Her mother was into horses, and so it didn’t take much for Bridget to convince her that riding lessons were a good idea.
Bridget hasn’t stopped since, and now in a few days’ time she’ll ride Penmain Promise down the centreline at Versailles as part of the Australian Paris Paralympic team.
The path to Para Dressage
Bridget was born with Multiple Pterygium Syndrome, but as she told Equestrian Life in 2018, it didn’t really change the way she learnt to ride. “[It] was no different to anyone else learning to ride. I might have fallen off a bit more. I knew no difference so I kind of just got on with it. In my teens I realised I probably shouldn’t be jumping as high as my friends were, so my focus shifted to dressage!”
“I grew up going through Pony Club, then moved onto HRCAV (Horse Riding Club Association of Victoria). Moving into Para Dressage had been brought up a few times but I didn’t really know much about it, and wasn’t really in the position to pursue it.”
However, Bridget’s circumstances changed. “My own horse had to be spelled, which kind of forced me to reassess my riding future. This happened to be at the same time [Paralympian] Sharon Jarvis was in Victoria, and she’d heard about me through mutual friends and was convinced to meet up. Next thing I know I was being classified [Bridget is now a Grade II rider]. Twelve months on and I was riding at the 2018 Australian Championships, which was only my third ever para-dressage comp.”
The pony Bridget rode at the Australian Championships that year was of course the gorgeous Koora-lyn Sunrise, who also took her to her first international level event – a CPEDI3* in Sydney in 2019.
Bridget Murphy and Koora-lyn Sunrise. Image by Stephen Mowbray.
Along came Macey
Bred by Alexandra Parratt, Penmain Promise is by Triple Trees Prince Perfect out of Mariana Lodge Yvonne, by Acheron Hot Chocolate. At just over 13 hands she was too small for Alexandra, and as fate would have it the mare crossed Bridget’s radar at the right time.
“It happened during Covid; the horse I was previously riding injured herself in the paddock and I had nothing to ride. I started putting out feelers, looking for something I could step straight into the competition with,” Bridget told Equestrian Life at the penultimate Paralympic qualifier at Boneo Park earlier this year.
“I then got a phone call from Rossanne Mason, and she convinced me to go down and have a ride… although a three-year-old breaker was not exactly what I was looking for!”
However, within five minutes of sitting on her, Bridget knew there was the potential for a special partnership. “I was actually the second person to ever sit on her! So we took her home and she’s been with me since.”
Bridget now co-owns the seven-year-old mare with Rossanne Mason.
The pair started out competing in Equestrian Australian national-level Para Dressage tests, before going to CPEDI2* level in April last year. By October, they’d had their first CPEDI3* start and the scores have gradually crept up at each event since. At Boneo CPEDI3* in April, Bridget realised she could possibly be in contention for Paris, and so she and Macey travelled to Sydney for Hawkesbury CPEDI3* where they won all three tests.
Bridget has certainly built a special partnership with Macey, and although the mare will likely be the smallest equine entrant at the Paralympics there is no doubting she has a heart to match the biggest! Bridget agrees: “She just takes it all in, she’s very smart. She’s just very special.”
Bridget Murphy and Penmain Promise at the final Paralympic qualifier (Hawkesbury CPEDI3*) in Sydney. Image by Click Capture.
The countdown is on!
Spectator tickets are sold out, the Australia team has entered the athletes’ village, and the Opening Ceremony is complete – there are only a matter of days to go until the first day of Para Dressage action at the Paris Paralympics!
Bridget and Macey will first ride the FEI Para Grand Prix A (Grade II) for the Individual Competition on 3 September, with the action beginning from 9am CEST (5pm AEST). You can find out more about the format and view the start times here.
You can read more about the Australian Paralympic team via the below links:
