Our Dressage Adventure
Don protégé
This is a story about a little old girl, a little old pony, and their really great para dressage adventure.
Hello everyone. My name is Lidija, I'm dwarf equestrian from Croatia. I was born with dwarfism, achondroplasia – my arms and legs are disproportionate in regards to the rest of my body.
Despite that, I managed to get a master's degree in urban forestry and nature and environment protection.
I am unemployed and both of my parents are retired.
I've been trying to find a job for several years now with no success because, when they see me, the people at job interviews see my height as a handicap, but n my country dwarfism is not recognized as a disability.
But never mind that, since I have learned to ignore the harsh words, stares and laughter. Horses are my life and, frankly, my obsession since my early childhood. Riding a pony is everything to me.
Having met my best friend, I was given a unique opportunity to learn how to ride and how to take care of a horse. At the same time, the nice people at the equestrian club I train at have provided me with a horse that is a perfect fit. He is old. He is stubborn. He is lazy. He is gluttonous. He is spiteful. He is irreplaceable.
My horse is a 20-year-old pony.
Individually we are capable, together we are unstoppable. We are a team. Every single piece of equipment, from riding jodhpurs to the saddle, has to be tailor made or refitted from ground up for me and for my horse because there does not exist an existing size that would fit me.
After finishing the riding school and getting the paradressage category assigned, it is time for us to move from casual to competitive track.
My goal is to gather enough funds to be able to continue my training and improve my skills, to be able to attend and perform at tournaments, and show that even the smallest of us can achieve great things.
The first phase of that is ordering a custom made-to-fit saddle because, even though the current one I use is in good shape, it is not adequate for the horse or my centre of balance. The rest of the funding will go to pay for training.
All donators will have their names written on the first horse blanket used in tournament and any funds over the campaign goal will go towards the additional training of the pony.
Hello everyone. My name is Lidija, I'm dwarf equestrian from Croatia. I was born with dwarfism, achondroplasia – my arms and legs are disproportionate in regards to the rest of my body.
Despite that, I managed to get a master's degree in urban forestry and nature and environment protection.
I am unemployed and both of my parents are retired.
I've been trying to find a job for several years now with no success because, when they see me, the people at job interviews see my height as a handicap, but n my country dwarfism is not recognized as a disability.
But never mind that, since I have learned to ignore the harsh words, stares and laughter. Horses are my life and, frankly, my obsession since my early childhood. Riding a pony is everything to me.
Having met my best friend, I was given a unique opportunity to learn how to ride and how to take care of a horse. At the same time, the nice people at the equestrian club I train at have provided me with a horse that is a perfect fit. He is old. He is stubborn. He is lazy. He is gluttonous. He is spiteful. He is irreplaceable.
My horse is a 20-year-old pony.
Individually we are capable, together we are unstoppable. We are a team. Every single piece of equipment, from riding jodhpurs to the saddle, has to be tailor made or refitted from ground up for me and for my horse because there does not exist an existing size that would fit me.
After finishing the riding school and getting the paradressage category assigned, it is time for us to move from casual to competitive track.
My goal is to gather enough funds to be able to continue my training and improve my skills, to be able to attend and perform at tournaments, and show that even the smallest of us can achieve great things.
The first phase of that is ordering a custom made-to-fit saddle because, even though the current one I use is in good shape, it is not adequate for the horse or my centre of balance. The rest of the funding will go to pay for training.
All donators will have their names written on the first horse blanket used in tournament and any funds over the campaign goal will go towards the additional training of the pony.
Organisateur
Andrej Bedeković
Organisateur