Canadian Para-Dressage Rider wins 2 medals at 2008 Summer Paralympic Games

This is a bit late to be posting - but it still deserves recognition.

A Canadian dressage rider - Lauren Barwick won 2 medals in dressage - a gold and a silver at the 2008 Paralympic games in Beijing.

She rides a 14yr old mare co-owned by the Parelli's. I actually found out about her in the Parelli e-newsletter. Reading stories like this make me realize that there is so much more to life than worrying about my leg position in the saddle or the size of my breeches. She trains for dressage while working full time at a bank.

From an article at dressagedaily.com - "Barwick has long been a rider and it was eight years ago that a 100-pound bale of hay fell from a 10-foot height onto her back, paralyzing her. She has an amazingly humorous attitude about her paralysis and when asked if the accident was painful, laughed and said, “Nope. I didn’t feel a thing.” Despite the accident, she continued on with her riding and successfully qualified to compete in the Athens Olympics where she finished sixth among 21. "

I think the articles speak for themselves - if you are interested, enjoy the reading. What an awesome woman.

• Lauren's blog


• Article about Lauren testing horses and working with Walter Zettl (dressagedaily.com)


• Equine Canada press releases - gold medal win and silver medal win


• Vancouver sun article

Way to go Lauren!

*image is from equinacanada.com