minutes down the road from Emma’s home in Victoria. And, even though he had no experience as a para-dressage horse, the pair immediately clicked when Emma first tried him in late 2015, just weeks before their first qualifying competition for Rio. “I instantly knew he was the one we’d been looking for” says Emma “He is a very sensitive clever horse that was trained to Prix St George level, and it didn’t take much for him to figure out what I was asking. Almost instantly during that first ride he just ‘got it’.” Like all good riders Emma uses her core control and shifting of weight in the saddle as aids to direct her horse but Zidane has to understand her commandswithout traditional leg aids. Awhip held in each hand helps to compensate for the lack of Emma’s leg aids and voice commands are also an integral part of their communication. “The voice commands are pretty much clicking noises that many horse riders and trainers use anyway, so he immediately understood that as a forward aid. From there we made up a system that worked well for us.” The formula was instantly a winning one as Emma and Zidane broke the Freestyle record in Australia at their first competition and went on to be consistent performers. Emma was confident of another good result heading into Tokyo 2020 but the postponement to 2021 proved to be a big challenge.
Emma Booth and Zidane competing at the Tokyo Paralympics for Australia. Image: Getty
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