The Burgess Hill School for Girls’ riding teams were invited to attend the selection event for the British Paralympic Dressage Teams for London 2012.
The girls were invited to attend the Hickstead event on Monday 18th June by British Dressage. The girls watched riders compete at various levels and met several of the top Para-Equestrian riders who answered their questions and took them to see the horses in the stable area. Members of the British Dressage team also explained the grading system for Para-Equestrian Dressage riders to the girls.
In particular they met Lee Pearson who has been awarded an MBE, OBE and CBE. Lee has won 27 gold medals in Equestrian Dressage and took triple gold at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, the 2004 Athens Paralympics and the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, making him an equestrian world record holder by being unbeaten at three consecutive Games.
The girls also met Sophie Wells, 22, the first ever para-equestrian rider in history to have crossed over and competed on both the able bodied junior team and the para-equestrian team at the same time. In 2010 Sophie won two gold medals at the FEI World Equestrian Games.
The girls were asked to clap and cheer loudly to help prepare the horses and riders for the Olympic atmosphere.
Mrs Carruthers, the coordinator for equestrian events for the school said, “The girls watched blind and disabled riders compete on their horses, displaying a calm and poise that left the girls in awe of the skills that were so clearly in evidence.”