Spirit Para equestrian

Parqaequestrian News

2011-08-06T17:51:00.001-07:00

You can read HERE

Morven Park today

2011-04-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

Wendy and Larisa did great job today, presenting themselves in great shape, rhythm, impulse and accuracy in the test...my comments about following rules and judging is due of not so much experienced judges or organizers...but it will be better...I know.

Wendy did second places yesterday and today, and it is great start of the season...Larisa moves like 7 not 27 yo :)

March 18-19 Region 3 Conference NC

2011-04-09T18:51:00.000-07:00

Wendy Shugol and Dada Suvak presented Para equestrian program as possible extension of therapeutic riding programs at Region 3 NARHA Conference 2011 in NC...Lot of people and great interest, new contacts and inspiration for future clinic/competition.

See this

2011-04-09T18:47:00.000-07:00

The determined Bettina Eistel and her very special horse, Fabuleax 5.
Look closely....

Yup. No arms. Her name is Bettina Eistel and her horse is Fabuleax 5.
What is even more compelling than the fact that she can brush her horse with her feet, is that she competes, very well, at the Paralympics in dressage.
Bettina didn’t just overcome her disability, she walloped it!
(Kinda makes me feel ridiculous for complaining about anything having to do with just about anything…)

Cantering
WHY NO ARMS?
Thalidomide. (I wanted to read her book but it isn’t translated into English and I cannot read German. I wonder if a Kindle could translate it?…) Anyway, she was born in 1961 in Germany , with no arms due to the drug, Thalidomide.

Her book
What is Thalidomide? Thalidomide was a drug they gave pregnant women before it was known that it caused birth defects… Hence, Bettina was born without any arms.
When I was too little to understand manners, I can remember my mother telling me not to stare at kids I would see who had birth defects. She would shake her head and just whisper, “Thalidomide”. I remember being very appreciative that I didn’t have that kind of a birth defect.

Saddling
FAST FORWARD
Bettina doesn’t let her disability stop her. After all, this way of being is all she has ever known…
As an aside, another disabled Olympian was explaining the difference between being born with a disability versus being born “whole” and acquiring the disability. This concept is an interesting topic. You probably can come to some of your own conclusions here.

Bridling... look at him drop his head.
Anyway, as a small child, Bettina learned how to use her feet and toes as her hands and fingers. As a youngster, she started in horseback riding lessons. (Thank goodness her parents supported her and let go of their fears around this.) She wears riding boots with cut-outs in the toes so she can have ‘hands’ (imagine how cold her toes must get … and how often they clip a branch or a fence board – ouch!).. She can saddle, bridle, hose down, wrap, blanket and do just about anything else that is needed for her horse. And, she rides by steering with her legs and holding the reins in her mouth. IN HER MOUTH. Try that… I tried to hold my brush in my mouth while braiding my girl’s hair and I ended up drooling all over the place in about a minute. I have no idea how she does it. Amazing.
Oh, and besides all those horse riding feats, she can text, write and put on mascara with her to es!
Hmmmm. I’m starting to feel sheepish for complaining about anything…

They say Bettina is a master at hose water fights!
“After highschool in 1979, Bettina studied the History of Art, Archaeology and Ethnology in Hamburg , followed by an eight-year study of psychology. During her psychology studies, she participated in a project with Hamburg ’s home for children. In 1989 she completed her studies with a diploma and has since worked as a graduate psychologist in a Hamburg counseling center for children and family therapy.”
PARALYMPICS
I really couldn’t find much information on her coaching (Her coach Franz-Martin Stankus) or how she learned to ride. But, I did find out that she:
“Eistel was formerly Vice-Europe and Vice World Champion (two silver and bronze at the European Championships in Portugal in 2002 and three silver at the World Championships in Belgium in 2003) and won two silver and one bronze medal at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens , she won also three times the German championship. As the most recent successes are the bronze medal in the required tasks of the individual competition and the silver medal in the team standings at the 2008 Paralympics in Hong Kong ..”
Not bad even for a girl WITH arms…

With her dressage medal
HER HORSE
You have to really think about the kind of horse who would let this kind of a rider be his partner. Really… what temperament is needed to perform at high level dressage as well as take care of a disabled rider? Wow. I wish I knew if they looked high and low for him… or if they simply trained a good horse to understand this rider? (I need to read her book.) I mean, did they find a horse and say to him that this is the way we are going to do it now? Or, does the Fabuleax 5 ‘know’? I often hear that certain horses are much more gracious with disabled riders than with regular riders. I know that my Gwen is much nicer to children than to me… I wonder how that happens? Is it the horse or the quality/feel/spirit of the disabled rider/child that effects the horse? Dunno.

Taking a treat from Mom
Bettina says she trained her horse via voice commands, head movement and leg aids. Funny, I bet hardly any of us would think it was even possible to ride a horse without arms.
From where I sit, I would like to be in the presence of the wonderful Fabuleax 5. He is a saint in my book. Fabuleax lets Bettina ride him in the only way she can… with the reins in her teeth and the other set of reins between her toes. And, he does his job. Simple. Gosh. Impressive.
If you notice in the photos, he lowers his head to be bridled and to be brushed. Atta boy!

Beautiful boy
TELEVISION HOST
Bettina also landed a gig as a Talk Show Host. With a weekly show on German TV station ZDF, Bettina is something of a media star. They say her popularity is because of her engaging and optimistic personality… but one cannot ignore her amazing ability to do everything, literally everything, with her feet..

Bettina as talk show host
AFTERTHOUGHT
I wanted to bring this story to you because I think sometimes we give up too easily. Or maybe it is just me… maybe I think I give up too easily or don’t push through my/my horse’s issues or don’t get over myself/my fears or don’t put as much effort/time into training my horses as I could. Reading about Bettina was a good shot in the arm for me…
I sure don’t feel like making any excuses or complaining…
I cannot even imagine folding the laundry with my feet, let alone living 24 hours without my hands. Wow. Very inspirational.

What a great team!

When you know what God says, what He means, and how to put His truths into practice, you will be equipped for every circumstance of life.
--Kay Arthur--

Movies used at presentations

2011-03-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

Presentation and speech about Para equestrian

2011-03-22T17:34:00.001-07:00

November 3-6 2011, Denver CO - NARHA National Conference - Davorka Suvak
March 18 - 19 2011, Charlot NC - NARHA Region 3 Conference - Wendy Shugol and Davorka Suvak

Presentation and promotional speech for Para equestrian program, Great Interest and lot to be done, but it seems that it is a right time to grow....

Wendy and Larisa at WHIS

2010-11-28T20:58:00.001-08:00

WIHS 2010

2010-10-29T20:49:00.001-07:00

I am proud to be able to inform you that Spirit's rider, Wendy Shugol, Para equestrian rider Grade 1a will promote Para equestrian dicsipline, at the Washington International Horse Show this Sunday. She will ride her Morgan mare, Larissa, and perform her Free Style test.

Aricle

2010-08-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

About Para equestrian rider you can read here

Video clips

2010-08-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

Wendy very succesfuly competed at Morven Park 2010. See here how it was with Infinity...

Matt and adventure we shared...from therapy to Gladstone and Nationals in only one year...too bad that he did not have any luck about horses ...Bela, Charm, Louie, Infinity...best ones been taken from him...See his story, here
Anyway, he did great job in Para equestrian, and Spirit will be always proud for experience we shared...
From experience with Bella
To his great performance at Morven park 2008. which you can see here.

For the end, some highlights from Bejijing 2008 Para dressage, you can see here...

Results

2010-06-27T11:44:00.000-07:00

Here are result of Trial Championship in Chicago IL, June, 25-27th.
Wendy will not be at the National Team, but we are proud of her effort and dedication.
She presented real profile of athlete and horsemanship at IL last week end.

Good Luck, Wendy!

2010-06-21T22:52:00.000-07:00

Wendy is on her way to Chicago where she will attend Trial Championship for National USA Para equestrian Team
She will ride there her Larisa, and Audie, both horses from famous Statesman Farm, and Ms Lynne Shpek.

Ms Shpek borrowed to Spirit 23 yo mare, Treasure during this competition...Thank you, Lynne!

Go Wendy and good luck!

And you can meet Treasure here....

And more photos...

2010-04-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

Wendy Schugol at Morven Park this week end!

2010-04-11T18:00:00.001-07:00

Great scores above 67%, high level performance of Wendy and her Larissa this week end...
Go, Wendy!

Fair about adapted sports, recreation and travel.......

2010-03-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

2010 Adapted Sports, Recreation and Travel Fair for Individuals with Disabilities

Spirit will present itself there.

Sponsored by Parents Of Autistic Children of Northern Virginia (POAC-NoVA), the Autism Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV) and other support organizations for individuals with disabilities, in coordination with the Fairfax County Therapeutic Recreation Department.

Who? For ALL individuals with disabilities living in Northern Virginia.

What? This fair will provide information on adapted sports, recreation and travel
opportunities, including adapted summer camp opportunities.

When? Saturday, 20 March 2010 from 1:30 to 4pm

Where? Key Middle School Main Gym (Gym 1), 6402 Franconia Road, Springfield, VA 22150. It is just down the road a couple of blocks from Robert E. Lee High School, where the FCPS 5th Annual Special Education Conference will be held which ends at 1pm. A map and directions are at http://commweb.fcps.edu/directory/map_base.cfm?locid=1011.

Cost? FREE!

We have invited all the adapted agencies and teams for every type of adapted sport and recreation opportunity in the area. The Therapeutic Recreation Departments from Fairfax, Arlington, & Loudoun Counties and Alexandria City will be participating, along with over a dozen other agencies and teams from twelve adapted sports and recreation categories. We hope that you will able to drop by to get information on the wide assortment of adapted opportunities that are available for individuals with disabilities. See you at the fair!

If you have any questions about this event, please feel free to contact Scott Campbell at the office at (703) 681-9426 or at home at (703) 241-2640.

Good to know...

2010-02-17T03:05:00.001-08:00

(Photo: Joop Stokkel, NE top PE rider)
FEI (International Equestrian Federation) has written tests for each level of para-equestrian competition. While the tests are different than U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF) dressage tests, the movements included make them roughly comparable to the following USEF levels:

Grades Ia and Ib are equivalent to Intro Level.
Grade II is equivalent to Training Level.
Grade III is equivalent to First Level.
Grade IV is equivalent to Third Level.
Para-equestrian riders can compete in open shows and can use special equipment or compensating aides (a whip in each hand, for example) as allowed by their "dispensation certificate" from the USEF. At open shows, riders with disabilities can choose to ride the standard USEF tests in able-bodied divisions, ride their FEI para-equestrian test as a test of choice, or do both.

Matt Trott

2010-02-15T04:23:00.000-08:00

Matt is founder and inspiration for Spirit Open Equestrian Program. I met him 2006 in another Therapeutic Riding program and we started with TR lessons. His attitude, and skills made him improve so much in just a year, to become a solid Para dressage rider with future to compete...after several public presentation of his riding skills, he was ready to go... so with generous help of friends, Whitney, Lynne, Kate and more people who wanted to support Para dressage at that time...he competed in Colorado, and won twice!
His performance provide him invitation to Gladstone,PA National Equestrian Center.
At that time, he rode Morgan mare Charm...and it was promising combination...
Charm has been given away...
Matt and group of friends started Spirit Open Equestrian Program...
Louie, Morgan gelding been given to Spirit Program, so Matt competed at Morven Park VA making solid results, 2007. See it on this video.
After Louie left Spirit, too, we got Infinity, Morgan mare who was a good match for Matt, too....
Spirit Program and myself are proud to present Matt and his story here.

2010-02-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

This picture from Morven Park,Equestrian Center, VA, 2009, when Wendy Schugol did great performance of requested tests in Para equestrian discipline shows main idea of vision we share...to celebrate ability and results of our riders. Para dressage is the way to do it.