#LOVETHEHORSE
Skerman doesn’t come from a racing family. She grew up watching The Saddle Club and joined her local pony club in Nunawading when she was six years old. She went to monthly rallies where she could ride other people’s ponies until she got her own horse a year or two later. “I did quite well in VCE and started an arts degree but I was there for three weeks and knew it wasn’t for me. I deferred and began working as a stable hand instead and I fell in love with racing and never went back to uni,” said Skerman. Skerman credits Equine Pathways Australia with helping her make her successful return to riding and racing after her accident. The organisation helps people with disability engage in equine sports and activities and Skerman had classes with Equine Pathways Australia to help her gain confidence and strength in the saddle. “Equine Pathways has been life changing for me. Having clinics each month helped me set goals and work towards them. I still ride there and have worked with sport psychologists, physiotherapists and riding instructors. There is a whole community of people there who support each other,” said Skerman. After joining Greg Eurell’s stables and meeting O’Tauto, Skerman continued to achieve milestones in her recovery and career. In January 2019, she strapped O’Tauto for his first win at Flemington. “I went through a rollercoaster of emotions that day. It was an important moment in my recovery because it brought home the realisation that I had recovered – I’d not only learned to walk again but I’d strapped a winner at Flemington and I was doing what I loved doing the most in working with racehorses,” said Skerman.
“I looked back on my time in hospital and that long 12 months and now I was where I wanted to be. I was in tears when
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