In addition to being born with spina bifida, Jane also suffered three fractures in her back after a riding accident seven years ago. But hat did not stop her from enjoying horses and riding. The 14-year-old black Tinker, Ronaldo, is as good as the day is long. Jane owned him since he was four and she describes the close bond they have:
"If I take him out of the paddock and I fall, he stops immediately and doesn't move a step until I get back up."
Jane and Ronaldo does not stick to a specific discipline, but they do trail riding, dressage, agility, practise horsemanship and also do riding physiotherapy exercises to strengthen Jane's body. As an aid, Jane sometimes uses two whips as she has reduced strength in her legs, but it's not easy. In addition, she has elastic bands around her feet in the stirrups. She is allowed to use the aids at competitions, one of Jane's big dreams. An annual event for the team is the animal show, where Jane herself musters Ronaldo in walk and receives help with the trot. Jane describes the connection with the calm Tinker:
"When I ride, train and generally spend time with my horse, I forget for a while the challenges and chronic pain I have in my everyday life. The horse gives me a great quality of life and helps a lot with my physical wellbeing. So we are proof that even with challenges, you can still ride and have your own horse.
Jane & Ronaldo
A Tinker horse and its trustworthy instincts can do wonders for many people, especially Jane Marskov Jensen.
Malou & Chantana
Medical malpractice for a congenital disability does not keep Malou from doing what she loves.
Malou was born with a short femur that needed to be lengthened by eight centimetres. After 4.5 centimetres of lengthening, complications arose with Malou’s knee. The young girl lived for a number of years in a wheelchair and with a bed in the living room and went through several operations, also of the “long” leg, to halt the growing process.
Against the doctors’ recommendations, Malou took up horse riding in 2016 and loved the combination of spending time with animals and being active. In 2022, Malou got her own horse and described it as the best decision: “Riding has helped me tremendously to create a stronger leg. Unfortunately, I still have a kneecap that is too high and more towards the side than normally, but of course, that won’t stop me from riding.” The 13-year-old Oldenburg and Dutch Warmblood mix is a massive support for Malou, and together they favour dressage, which strengthens them both.
The team loves to vary the strength training with groundwork and frisky trail rides. At the age of 17, Malou is now applying to become a para-equestrian, and her dream is to get to the competition grounds with her trusty mare, Chantana.
Stine & Golando
This pair is challenged in more than one area - both horse and rider are physically challenged.
Stine bought the six-year-old Pinto colt Golando Højgård in 2017 with the dream of breeding large ponies. Already in 2018, they faced their first challenge when Golando got injured in the paddock. After a long process, he ended up having his left eye removed. In the spring of 2019, bad luck struck Stine when she was at a show with Golando and her two-year-old stallion Aladdin:
“Aladdin has always been a pleasure to take off property, but this day was different. When we were in front of the judges, he reared up and hit me in the head with his front leg.”
Stine describes the time after the incident as incredibly hard, and she felt no one took her seriously. Unfortunately, it took seven months before she was diagnosed with a severe concussion. As a result, Stine is now suffering from a chronic concussion, daily complications and a 15% injury rate.
The dream of Golando as a breeding stallion became too risky, and in 2020 he was gelded. So what now?
Stine has a hard time remembering programmes or a course. However, as both Stine and Golando’s skill and ability are still high, they have found a good melody in riding hunts together and dream about exploring military competitions.
“I am extremely lucky!!! Because to this day, I can still ride - it’s my daily therapy and much better than medicine.”
Sarah & Zantos OX
Sarah is a para-equestrian grade 5 and has chosen the discipline endurance with the gelding Zantos OX.
The combination of Sarah, who has reduced function of the entire left side and the enduring OX Arab, Zantos, is a good match. Sarah suffers from dystonia and ataxia, both of which are movement disorders. Sarah is assessed as a para-equestrian grade 5, which means she can use aids in dressage, for example. Sarah rides endurance as she feels it gives her an entirely different kind of freedom, where she can adapt her riding to her health. She explains:
“In endurance, I can control and plan my ride myself, especially concerning my arm. It doesn’t always do what I want. I can control the pace and adjust my gait according to my body’s feelings. I can stand in a light seat all the way if I need to. I can stretch my leg along the way and even hop off and walk if I need to.”
Sarah bought Zantos, knowing that Arabs often have a sensitive mind and may have excess energy. She explains that this sensitive nature makes him extra attentive and protective towards her. Sarah even mentions that he slows down or stops if he senses she is losing her balance. He has also realised he can test people when other people than Sarah is riding him:
“He can be a bit sassy when my teacher rides him.”
Besides an attentive horse, Sarah also has some helpful stable mates. She notes her gratitude for them, especially when heavy lifting requires ‘two well-functioning arms’, as she puts it.
Sarah has a goal of riding a LA (60 kilometres) next year and says that the training up to and just completing such a ride, to her, it would feel like winning a World Cup.
Here at Malgré Tout, we wish to honour the diversity within the equestrian world. Therefore, we asked our readers to send us their stories and photos portraying their many differences. We hope you, like us, will enjoy these stories. Maybe it will also make you feel comfortable in your unique situation because we are all different.
By Celine Bønnelykke
Photos: Malgré Tout’s readers
In addition to being born with spina bifida, Jane also suffered three fractures in her back after a riding accident seven years ago. But hat did not stop her from enjoying horses and riding. The 14-year-old black Tinker, Ronaldo, is as good as the day is long. Jane owned him since he was four and she describes the close bond they have:
"If I take him out of the paddock and I fall, he stops immediately and doesn't move a step until I get back up."
Jane and Ronaldo does not stick to a specific discipline, but they do trail riding, dressage, agility, practise horsemanship and also do riding physiotherapy exercises to strengthen Jane's body. As an aid, Jane sometimes uses two whips as she has reduced strength in her legs, but it's not easy. In addition, she has elastic bands around her feet in the stirrups. She is allowed to use the aids at competitions, one of Jane's big dreams. An annual event for the team is the animal show, where Jane herself musters Ronaldo in walk and receives help with the trot. Jane describes the connection with the calm Tinker:
"When I ride, train and generally spend time with my horse, I forget for a while the challenges and chronic pain I have in my everyday life. The horse gives me a great quality of life and helps a lot with my physical wellbeing. So we are proof that even with challenges, you can still ride and have your own horse.
Jane & Ronaldo
A Tinker horse and its trustworthy instincts can do wonders for many people, especially Jane Marskov Jensen.
Malou & Chantana
Medical malpractice for a congenital disability does not keep Malou from doing what she loves.
Malou was born with a short femur that needed to be lengthened by eight centimetres. After 4.5 centimetres of lengthening, complications arose with Malou’s knee. The young girl lived for a number of years in a wheelchair and with a bed in the living room and went through several operations, also of the “long” leg, to halt the growing process.
Against the doctors’ recommendations, Malou took up horse riding in 2016 and loved the combination of spending time with animals and being active. In 2022, Malou got her own horse and described it as the best decision: “Riding has helped me tremendously to create a stronger leg. Unfortunately, I still have a kneecap that is too high and more towards the side than normally, but of course, that won’t stop me from riding.” The 13-year-old Oldenburg and Dutch Warmblood mix is a massive support for Malou, and together they favour dressage, which strengthens them both.
The team loves to vary the strength training with groundwork and frisky trail rides. At the age of 17, Malou is now applying to become a para-equestrian, and her dream is to get to the competition grounds with her trusty mare, Chantana.
Stine & Golando
This pair is challenged in more than one area - both horse and rider are physically challenged.
Stine bought the six-year-old Pinto colt Golando Højgård in 2017 with the dream of breeding large ponies. Already in 2018, they faced their first challenge when Golando got injured in the paddock. After a long process, he ended up having his left eye removed. In the spring of 2019, bad luck struck Stine when she was at a show with Golando and her two-year-old stallion Aladdin:
“Aladdin has always been a pleasure to take off property, but this day was different. When we were in front of the judges, he reared up and hit me in the head with his front leg.”
Stine describes the time after the incident as incredibly hard, and she felt no one took her seriously. Unfortunately, it took seven months before she was diagnosed with a severe concussion. As a result, Stine is now suffering from a chronic concussion, daily complications and a 15% injury rate.
The dream of Golando as a breeding stallion became too risky, and in 2020 he was gelded. So what now?
Stine has a hard time remembering programmes or a course. However, as both Stine and Golando’s skill and ability are still high, they have found a good melody in riding hunts together and dream about exploring military competitions.
“I am extremely lucky!!! Because to this day, I can still ride - it’s my daily therapy and much better than medicine.”
Sarah & Zantos OX
Sarah is a para-equestrian grade 5 and has chosen the discipline endurance with the gelding Zantos OX.
The combination of Sarah, who has reduced function of the entire left side and the enduring OX Arab, Zantos, is a good match. Sarah suffers from dystonia and ataxia, both of which are movement disorders. Sarah is assessed as a para-equestrian grade 5, which means she can use aids in dressage, for example. Sarah rides endurance as she feels it gives her an entirely different kind of freedom, where she can adapt her riding to her health. She explains:
“In endurance, I can control and plan my ride myself, especially concerning my arm. It doesn’t always do what I want. I can control the pace and adjust my gait according to my body’s feelings. I can stand in a light seat all the way if I need to. I can stretch my leg along the way and even hop off and walk if I need to.”
Sarah bought Zantos, knowing that Arabs often have a sensitive mind and may have excess energy. She explains that this sensitive nature makes him extra attentive and protective towards her. Sarah even mentions that he slows down or stops if he senses she is losing her balance. He has also realised he can test people when other people than Sarah is riding him:
“He can be a bit sassy when my teacher rides him.”
Besides an attentive horse, Sarah also has some helpful stable mates. She notes her gratitude for them, especially when heavy lifting requires ‘two well-functioning arms’, as she puts it.
Sarah has a goal of riding a LA (60 kilometres) next year and says that the training up to and just completing such a ride, to her, it would feel like winning a World Cup.
Here at Malgré Tout, we wish to honour the diversity within the equestrian world. Therefore, we asked our readers to send us their stories and photos portraying their many differences. We hope you, like us, will enjoy these stories. Maybe it will also make you feel comfortable in your unique situation because we are all different.
By Celine Bønnelykke
Photos: Malgré Tout’s readers
