Wow thank you BHS for the amazing opportunity.
My name is Sallyanne Haigh I am a
45 year old mother of 2 amazing children, Harry 17 and Stella 15. Our life
changed dramatically on 10th October 2015. I was attending a local
riding club rally on my horse Oubles. We were having a great day until at one
of the X country fences Oubles decided she didn’t want to jump it. We came
again a bit more assertive and this time she went up in the air reared and went
over backwards falling on top of me!!
Straight
away I was concerned due to the pain I was In I knew I had done something bad.
Being fully conscious waiting for the air ambulance to arrive felt like a
lifetime. I was air lifted to Southmead hospital where I had a 9 hour operation
to rebuild my broken vertebra from T11-L2, I had broken ribs and I had
sustained a spinal injury at L1 paralysing me from the waist down. To cut a
long story short my life changed forever that day. I spent 7 months in hospital
going from Southmead hospital in Bristol to a specialist spinal unit at
Salisbury. This was a very dark time as learning to come to terms with this
complex injury was going to be a journey.
I
am very lucky to have fantastically supportive friends and family around me,
who have helped get me back in the game and back in the saddle. As you can
imagine a few immediate family members were not keen when I started talking
about getting back on board. But my friend and instructor Beth Miller BHSII
offered me the ride of her Horse Flynn as a para pony if I wanted to ride
again. I knew I wanted to ride again,
but I never realised it would be so hard.
Only
2 years after my injury I went to the Avon RDA where I started having sessions
on the simulator to help with my core and balance, and I had my first sit on/lesson
at the RDA being hoisted onto one of their amazing ponies. This was
overwhelming and very emotional. I set about finding a way of mounting Flynn at
home and we soon were lucky enough to have donations from my riding club after
fundraising for a lorry/arena hoist. We set about hoist training Flynn and so
it began.
So
one day I was reading the BHS journal and I saw an article for the offer of
support with a bursary for riders who don’t own their own horse. So I applied,
and a few months later I was over the moon to be contacted to say I had won. I
entered because I thought it would be great if I could have the opportunity to
ride more in a safe environment and have a few extra lessons so we can push on
from walk to trot as I have been classified now for BD para dressage and I am
graded a 2… which means I have to walk and trot in the tests. This is harder
than it looks when you have no sensation and are paralysed from the waist down.
I
absolutely love the feeling of being in the saddle with the freedom from being
away from the wheelchair it’s like the horse is my legs. I can’t wait to
benefit from this opportunity and feel very lucky to have had this chance to
develop with my riding. I am looking forward to sharing my journey with you.
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