Heike Holstein is unquestionably Ireland’s most well-known dressage rider. Also, one of the most successful Irish athletes across all sports, Heike has ridden at no fewer than four Olympic Games. She has competed at five European Championships and two World Equestrian Games, and has been crowned Irish National Champion on 13 occasions.

In 2019, Heike returned to international competition after a 14-year absence. Riding Sambuca, she was an integral part of the quadruplet of riders who went on to obtain Ireland’s first ever dressage team Olympic qualification. These accomplishments are truly outstanding, but Heike’s biggest achievement is her family.

“I have done so many things that were amazing, but having my children is my best achievement. They make us so happy, and the whole experience really changes you as a person. Before you have kids, horses are everything. Once the children arrive, it is very much family first.”

Heike Holstein and Sambuca at the FEI European Championships in Rotterdam \ Tomas Holcbecher

Sydney Olympics

Heike lives in Kildare with William, and her sons Jake (17) and Archie (14). “William is from a local farming family, and he works as an accountant. He is very supportive, and has been all along. When we had both finished college, we lived together in Germany where I was based with Reiner Klimke preparing for the Atlanta Olympics. William would help me with the driving, and at the shows.”

Heike and William got married in 1999. Heike went on to compete at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and then at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Having children was always on the agenda.

“I am highly ambitious and very driven. When I have something in my head that I want to achieve, it becomes my all and everything to work towards. At that time, I had Welt Adel who I rode at the Athens Olympics. I decided to sell him, and focus on starting a family. He was sold in January 2006, and our son Jake was born in September the same year.

I continued to compete nationally with two horses called Fire and Ice and Wanted, and we decided that we would like another child. I had a nice mare at the time, so I put her in foal too. Our second son Archie and future star Sambuca were born at around the same time in July 2009. Fire and Ice and Wanted both had to be qualified for the Dressage Ireland National Championships, so three weeks after Archie was born, I was back in the ring. I had to safety-pin my jacket closed. Thankfully it went according to plan, and both horses won their classes at the championships that September.”

Motherhood

Guilt is an emotion experienced by all mothers when trying to combine motherhood with work and other commitments. Heike is no exception. “The main thing that you feel when trying to juggle being the best mother you can be and the best competitor you can be, is the guilt,” says Heike, starkly. “When the kids were small, it was easier as I just took them with me but when they started school, it all got much harder. I have a very good support network; William is brilliant, and I also have Mary Byrne. Mary is amazing. She used to look after my brother Erik and I when we were kids, and then she came back to help with Jake and Archie.

Sambuca grew up alongside the boys. She was nine when she stepped up to Grand Prix level, and the following year she began competing internationally. Hickstead always falls around Archie’s birthday in July, so he has celebrated a few of those in the lorry. The boys have come to lots of shows with me, and so they have been able to travel and see a bit of the world too. They were there in Rotterdam when we qualified the team for the Tokyo Olympics, which was really special. It can be a lonely old sport when you are travelling by yourself, so it gives me such a boost being able to share these experiences with my husband and sons.”

In July 2022, Sambuca was sold and Heike then moved into a full-time coaching role. Alongside her busy book of Irish clients, Heike has been the longstanding dressage coach to the ever successful Irish Under 25 eventing squad for many years.

Heike also began coaching the Hong Kong Para Dressage riders at the end of 2022, with the aim of qualifying a team for the Paris Paralympic Games in 2024. “I love helping people. I think I can read people quite well, and identify what they need from me.

A lot of my clients are also my friends. I will be coaching full time for the next year, and spending as much time with my family as possible.”