Emma Booth: Equestrian rider ready for a spot in the Australian Dressage team at the Rio Paralympics
THREE years ago today, promising equestrian rider Emma Booth was left a paraplegic after a head-on car crash and feared she may never compete again. But today, the 24-year-old will compete for a spot in the Australian Dressage team at the Rio Paralympics in September.
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IT was three years ago today promising equestrian rider Emma Booth was left a paraplegic after a head-on car crash and feared she may never compete again.
Travelling home from an event in Albury in April, 2013, Booth was travelling back to Melbourne the night a truck jackknifed and hit two cars.
But today, the 24-year-old will compete for a spot in the Australian Dressage team at the Rio Paralympics in September.
The woman in the other car died and Booth’s spine was crushed.
Doctors at the Royal Melbourne Hospital discovered Booth had a bleed on her brain, a fractured skull, sternum, collarbone and ankle, a shattered spine, a punctured lung and life-threatening abdominal injuries.
Diagnosed as a paraplegic, she learned she would never walk again let alone ride.
“When I was in hospital I looked up para-Equestrian riding and was determined to make Rio my goal,” she said.
Booth was back on a horse six months after the accident and the adjustment to “para-riding” took no time at all.
“My legs are strapped to the saddle with Velcro so they don’t; move around,” she said.
“It didn’t take long to get used to and being back on a horse gave me that feeling of familiarity.”
Booth’s love affair with the sport began when she won a competition on the popular television show The Saddle Club when she was just 11.
Her prize was a horse with the expenses fully paid for a year.
Quickly she formed a love for horses and it wasn’t long before she was riding in competitions, where she enjoyed plenty of success.
Last December Booth made the decision to buy a Danish-bred horse called Zidane. The pair have overcome a massive obstacle — adjusting to a para-rider.
“Previously he was ridden by an able body person and almost immediately he modified his ways to accommodate my riding and is now performing at an international level,” she said.
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