1 minute read
Around The Traps
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 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 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 Tristan will say to try this, or try that.”
Emma describes Zidane as such a happy and friendly horse. Within five minutes of his arrival he’d slotted right in, as if he was always a Para-horse. “He’s always been fine to be mounted. To start with I
was thrown on - not always elegantly - and he never moved a foot,” says Emma.
And of her epic 50-plus horsehunting marathon? “I’m definitely glad I waited,” she says, “Zidane is so loveable, affectionate and kind. He’s my one in a million. I’m very lucky to have found him.”
