Taylor Battles Back From Breast Cancer For A Blenheim Derby Win

Two years after her diagnosis, she’s feeling stronger than ever aboard L’Con Reyes.

Horses have played a starring role in Katie Taylor’s life from her first pony ride around the age of 4. They kept her focused in her junior years at the Karazissis family’s Far West Farms in Calabasas, California, and they guided her when she rode for Liz Reilly and Chris Iwasaki’s Makoto Farms. They made the journey with her to Arizona when she took a break from professional riding. And they remained by her side when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017.

“Going through treatment, you definitely get some dark days and some depressing days, and I would make myself go out to the barn and just hang out with them,” said Taylor, 32. “Something about them just keeps you going, and it keeps you happy. Just riding them when I was sick, they took care of me knowing that I was not 100 percent and that sort of thing.”

First published in The Chronicle of the Horse, reprinted with permission. Story by Tori Repole.