F E AT U R E
ABOVE: Group hug: Johno, Sue-Ellen and Cathie Drury-Klein (Image by Prue Crichton, 2C Photography). the number one, most important characteristic for a Para-horse: a great temperament, through and through. Katie tells me just how important this is to her. With MS, she experiences numbness in 60 to 70 per cent of her body, which can vary from dayto-day. “My body changes and aids
Tristan will say to try this, or try that.”
and he never moved a foot,” says Emma.
Emma describes Zidane as such a happy
And of her epic 50-plus horse-
and friendly horse. Within five minutes
hunting marathon? “I’m definitely
of his arrival he’d slotted right in, as if he
glad I waited,” she says, “Zidane is
was always a Para-horse. “He’s always
so loveable, affectionate and kind.
been fine to be mounted. To start with I
He’s my one in a million. I’m very
was thrown on - not always elegantly -
lucky to have found him.”
become non-uniform. My horse needs to be a really good guesstimator!” she laughs. “With Marquis, it didn’t matter how wrong he felt the movement from me was, he’d decipher it without blowing a gasket.” I’m surprised to hear Katie describe
Katie and Gronskovlunds Marquis at the 2016 Rio Paralympics (Image courtesy Katie Umback).
new horse Benny as a bit of a scaredy cat. “He doesn’t like water or music - so a freestyle to music can be scary for him.” But big, softy Benny really trusts Katie. The connection they share means he would do practically anything for her. “He’s very accepting of anything new or strange,” shares Katie. “He has the most incredible amount of trust in me. I ride him with confidence in my body, and he says ‘OK’.” Like the other two riders, Katie works with a trainer, Netherlands-based Tristan Tucker. “We have a lot of contact,” says Katie, “I’ll tell him what’s happening and H O R S E V I B E S . C O M . AU | 45
