Australian Dressage News

Heath Ryan Suffers a Stroke

May 18, 2009

Australian Olympic dressage rider Heath Ryan has suffered a stroke while competing at an event in Camden, southwest of Sydney, on the weekend. He is recovering in the Campbelltown Hospital where a spokesperson confirmed he is in a stable condition.

Brother of triple Olympic gold medallist Matt Ryan, Heath had recently returned from the United States, where he had competed at the 2009 World Cup Finals in Las Vegas and completed a training stint with Steffen Peters in California.

The 50 year-old, from the Hunter Valley in NSW, had competed at last year's Olympics in Beijing where he had a best result of eighth as part of the team's event. Prior to that Ryan had been assistant coach with the Australian equestrian team at the Atlanta, Sydney and Athens Olympics. He is also an avid eventer competing internationally at big CCI 4*stars such as the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.

Photo courtesy: Hunter/Herald

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