In late March, veteran Galway Downs volunteer and competitor Kate Flaherty joined a club nobody wants to be in. That is the breast cancer club that counts about one in every 8 women in the United States among its begrudging members.
Kate and her longtime partner, Eli’s Coming, were prepping for their Beginner Novice run in the Spring Horse Trials when the diagnosis came – four days before the show started.
“It was going to be our year,” explains Kate. She and the 12-year-old Canadian Warmblood cross were USEA Area VI Beginner Novice Champs in 2022 and they’d had good Novice outings at the end of last year.
Crazy Horse Girl Legend
The Novice Classic Three Day at Rebecca Farm in Montana loomed large on their show agenda.
A cancer diagnosis hits everyone differently. Kate’s reaction is the stuff of crazy horse girl legend.
First, she went ahead and competed in the Spring Horse Trials in the Novice Rider division – at least in the dressage phase, which she and Eli led on a 27.5. Then the rains came, coupled with the rain of heavy emotions that accompanied her diagnosis.
“I was just so down,” she shares. “I scratched from the rest of the show and it was easy to do without anybody needing to ask why.”
The dire mood and worries mounted, but so did Kate’s character and optimism. So, her next move was to buy a second horse – and quite a nice one at that.
“I’d been so down about it, then I decided I’m 65 and this might be my last hurrah.”
She and her trainer Olivia Loiacono of OKL Eventing in Bonsall had been looking for a new horse on and off and had their eye on one of Courtney Cooper’s Excel Star Sporthorses. They flew to professional Valerie Pride’s base in Baltimore, where the horse was located, to check him out. Kate purchased “Elton” in late May and welcomed him to California in early June, just a few days before her surgery.
Somewhere in this blur of transformational life events, Kate asked her husband, Alan Geller, DVM, “Does it bother you my buying a new horse – and a somewhat expensive one?”
“It didn’t make any sense to some, but my husband said, ‘Oh no. It doesn’t bother me at all. It means you’ve decided to try to live.”
Living is exactly what Kate’s focused on. And a critical part of living is regaining her health and fitness to get back in the saddle. She had surgery on June 6, and is already eyeing a gentle yoga class to get started on the path back into the saddle.
Olivia is taking great care of Kate’s new horse, Excel Star Tiny Dancer, and of Eli. Kate hopes to be back visiting them at the barn soon and possibly competition-ready by August.
A Veteran Volunteer
She’s also anxious to get back to volunteering. Having worked for Anne Kellerhouse’s events in San Diego County in the mid-1980s, Kate thinks she may be one of the longest serving volunteers at Galway.
Kate grew up in Los Angeles and rode on the hunter/jumper circuit with her Off The Track Thoroughbred. She loved the horses and the riding, but not so much the fact that it was expensive to get far in the discipline.
As a young working adult, Kate was introduced to eventing by a colleague and there was no turning back. “I bought a school master Novice level horse. I was just into it right away and I still totally am.”
The vital role of volunteers was immediately obvious to Kate. “It was so clear to me that we won’t have these events if people don’t volunteer. I decided to be a competitor who volunteers.” And that’s what she’s been dating back to Del Mar Eventing with organizer Anne Kellerhouse, the late mother of Galway Downs organizer Robert Kellerhouse.
The scene was a bit “looser” back then, as a competitor and volunteer. “People were just trying to pull it together.” Kate has witnessed many changes in the competition scene and in opportunities to keep and campaign horses in California.
“I was so relieved when Robert (Kellerhouse) came to Galway Downs and made it everything he wants it to be. I understand it’s a huge effort and risk, especially in the beginning. I’ve always wanted to support it.” She supports Ram Tap in Fresno and Shepard Ranch in Santa Ynez and applauds all who strive to keep West Coast eventing strong and accessible.
She’s also grateful to the contributions of Ali and Francie Nilforushan’s Nilforushan Equisport Events. They’ve made extensive and ongoing upgrades to Galway Downs, where they stage hunter/jumper circuits, and revived the Del Mar Fairgrounds with their Seaside Equestrian Tour.
The benefits of volunteering remain unchanged throughout Kate’s long history of giving back to the sport. “We all come from different places and different walks of life, but we volunteer because we love the sport and want to make it work.”
She’s confident and experienced in most every volunteer role and picks cross-country jump judging when given a choice. “I love to see how everyone approaches different jumps. And I love to see some of the top riders, like Tamie Smith, in person, then come back and do it myself at the lower levels. You see that even the toughest riders have problems. Even if they fall off, they get back on and go back at it. I just keep learning from everybody around me.
“Plus, it’s fun.”
Having the nerve to get back on after a fall is an equestrian’s secret weapon through life. Kate is leaning into that right now. And she’s inspiring others with her grit and determination to carry on with her life and get back in the saddle.