She had been a member of the first Irish Nations’ Cup team with civilian riders to win the Aga Khan Cup in 1963 – Ireland’s first victory in the event since 1949 – delivering one of the clear rounds that secured the victory. Between 1961 and 1969, she and Barrymore secured victories in eleven of the fifteen nations in which they competed, and she also finished fourth at the European Championships at Hickstead in 1963 and won the Grand Prix at Enschede and the Dublin Grand Prix in 1966. She acted as Chef d’Equipe for the Irish junior team at the European Championships in 1969, at which Paul Darragh on Errigal won the individual silver medal.

As a twenty-year-old, she had developed pneumonia and suffered severe lung damage from which she never fully recovered, and the rarefied atmosphere of Mexico City – at 2,134 metres above sea level – presented an exceptional physical challenge.