Yet Another Reason Why I Love Horses

When we are around horses, we (or at least I) hardly ever feel endangered by the size, weight or power of these animals. When one of my co-workers came back from her holiday in Iceland just recently, she told me that she tried riding for the first time and could not believe how careful these horses were - especially with her as she was a complete beginner.

To me, horses have a certain antenna for when you need them to be more careful than usual because you brought your little sister to the barn who has never sat on Hafl before - he definitely was never ridden by any child so having a small whatever on his back who does not know how to move legs, weight or hands was or is something unusual for him. When I was still suffering from THE accident, walking into the fields with crutches, he was the one being absolutely careful not to hit me with his head while chasing flies away.

Also riders with special needs know what I mean. There seems to be no issue with wheelchairs, crutches, devices for mounting like ramps etc, even Hafl who has never seen a wheelchair before was completely calm this weekend on the horse show when a local Paradressage rider was passing by. He is one of the Austrian representative at the World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France, coming up in only a few days.

Two years ago, I was watching the Paralympics online and was highly impressed about the relationship between horse and rider - endless trust in the horses that are so much looking after their riders.

A very impressing examples for me is Verity Smith, a British Paradressage rider. I read about her earlier this year and only a few days to go to the World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France I wanted to spend some thoughts on not only the Dressage riders we know so well from the news but also those silent heroes, horses and riders alike, who also made their way to the top in dressage.


"When I'm riding, it is like flying. My feet do not touch the ground -- and the world and all the stresses that can come with being blind just disappear."

Verity was able to see until the age of 8 but then lost sight gradually and declared being blind aged 16. She turned from show jumping to dressage and from there to the top, even representing Great Britain in the World Championships in Arhus, Denmark. Her plans to go to the 2012 Paralympics never turned into reality as her horse was put down to sleep.

Never losing her confidence and her positive attitude, Verity is now aiming for the Paralympics in Rio in 2016. She started a Kickstarter project to buy a horse (which she succeeded in already) and fund her way to Rio. But she is not only doing it for herself, after 2016 she plans to sell Szekit in order to raise money for her charity projects, Guide Dogs for the Blind and Riding for the Disabled.

Read more about Verity here: http://www.verity-smith.com/dressage.html

Her crowdfunding campaign: http://www.thekingdomshorse.com/

Watch this goose bumps guaranteed video here:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/26/sport/verity-smith-blind-dressage-olympics/index.html?hpt=hp_c5

The best riders are those with feel - Greatest respect for all Paradressage riders - and best wishes for the WEG 2014!



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