| Hobbies |
Spending time with her husband Patrick and her two dogs. (eurodressage.com, 26 May 2020) |
| Most influential person in career |
Coach Gisela Holstein, Irish dressage riders Heike Holstein and Anna Merveldt, and coach Johann Hinnemann. (horsemagazine.com, 08 Nov 2019) |
| Hero / Idol |
German dressage rider Isabell Werth. (eurodressage.com, 26 May 2020) |
| Injuries |
She needed an emergency appendix operation three weeks before the 2006 World Equestrian Games [WEG]. She did not ride for 10 days, but recovered in time to compete at the event in Aachen, Germany. (Athlete, 03 Jul 2012; dressageireland.ie, 27 Aug 2007) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto |
"The horse is an animal and doesn't always understand straight away what you want. You never stop learning, especially in dressage. If you're open to it, every horse will teach you as much as you can teach him." (Horseware Facebook page, 06 Jul 2016) |
| Awards and honours |
In November 2019 she received a special recognition award from Horse Sport Ireland [HSI] for her contribution to dressage after she helped Ireland qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in the team event. (eurodressage.com, 29 Nov 2019)
She was named Irish Field Dressage Rider of the Year in 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. (eurodressage.com, 26 May 2020; theirishfield.ie, 28 Feb 2020; Athlete, 06 May 2009)
She received a Gold Badge of Honour from the International Equestrian Federation [FEI] in 2017. (theirishfield.ie, 13 Dec 2017) |
| Other sports |
She became the first female rider to represent Ireland in the final phase [grand prix freestyle] of the dressage competition at an Olympic Games when she rode in the final at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. In 2017 she became the first Irish dressage rider to qualify, without invitation, for the World Cup Finals, competing at the 2017 edition in Omaha, NE, United States of America. She became the first Irish dressage rider to reach the freestyle to music final at the world championships when she competed at the 2018 World Equestrian Games [WEG] in Tryon, NC, United States of America. (horsesportireland.ie, 15 Sep 2018; sportsnewsireland.com, 20 Mar 2017; eurodressage.com, 07 Feb 2017; irishtimes.com, 12 Aug 2016) |
| Famous relatives |
Her father Joe Reynolds has served as chairman of Dressage Ireland. (worldofshowjumping.com, 23 Feb 2021; dressagetoday.com, 03 May 2018) |
| Ambitions |
To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (horseandhound.co.uk, 03 Jun 2021) |
| Other information |
FROM IRELAND TO GERMANY
She relocated from Ireland to Germany in 2002 at age 21. After a short stint in France she returned to Germany, where she and her husband Patrick started their own coaching and horse training business. In 2015 she began renting stalls at the Gut Hohenkamp stables in Dorsten, Germany, and she also regularly travels to Ireland to teach at clinics. "When I moved to Germany I trained with our great Irish rider Anna Merveldt and from there I progressed to training with [coach] Johann Hinnemann. I was lucky that the foundation was very good in the beginning, and that I met the right people at the right time, which was also very important." (breedingnews.com, 29 Jun 2020; irishsporthorsemagazine.com, 01 Mar 2019; dressagetoday.com, 03 May 2018; Facebook page, 07 Apr 2017; judyreynolds.com, 29 Feb 2016)
MUSICAL TALENT
She studied music at university and plays a number of instruments. "Technically I'm a trained musician. I studied for a bachelor of music at university. I play the piano, flute, saxophone, and the badhran, a traditional Irish drum. Unfortunately, over the last few years [speaking in 2019] I have let it slip and hardly play anymore. Our yard life is quite all-encompassing, not leaving a lot of time for other hobbies, but how lucky am I that I get to work at my hobby every day." (fei.org, 15 Mar 2019) |
FEI Database
www.judyreynolds.com/ 
www.facebook.com/judy.reynolds.771 
twitter.com/judyreynoldsirl 
instagram.com/judy_reynolds_dressage 
