Winter Dressage Championships: Blind rider Nicky Greenhill impresses

Blind dressage rider Nicky Green hill and Betty Boo — Nicky Greenhill and Betty Boo in action at Hartpury in 2021

(Image credit: Kevin Sparrow)

Blind rider Nicky Greenhill finished fourth at the NAF Five Star Winter Dressage Championships, riding her own mare Betty Boo to score 70.63% in the 34-strong Equi-Trek elementary silver.

“I was really chuffed and didn’t know what to expect – talk about feeling out of your depth,” said Nicky. “I was really pleased with all of my test – I’ve been working on getting Betty working over her back a bit more and into the contact, and I’m super chuffed with how it’s all progressing. We’re really managing to get all that stuff in the ring now and we didn’t make any mistakes, so I’m really pleased.”

Despite her challenges as a blind rider, Nicky has achieved her dream of competing in dressage and although the Winter Dressage Championships are her first able-bodied championship, she previously competed in top level para dressage as a grade IV rider. She competed in many international events and won team silver at the 2019 European Championships, but has decided to take a break from para competition and concentrate on able-bodied events.

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Stephanie Bateman began her career working for Horse & Hound’s sister title HORSE magazine in 2009 after studying a BSc Equine Science degree at Hartpury university. After a few years working in-house for a national equestrian title, she went freelance in 2011, and now writes for a variety of print and online platforms, editing sections of national monthly magazines and contributing regular features and event reports to Horse & Hound. She juggles working with being a mummy and wife, and riding her coloured mare Matilda.

Tales from Hartpury: Blind rider earns top four placing at first able-bodied championship

Nicky was born with a deteriorating eye condition called Stargardt’s which was first diagnosed at the age of 11, but by her early twenties, she could only see shapes against a contrasting background to the side and underneath. She also has total night blindness and suffers badly with glare.

“Hopefully I’ll go back to para competition eventuality, but for now I’m focusing on a new test and different challenge, and I aim to qualify for the summer regionals at elementary and medium.”

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