Head & Shoulders Above

I remember watching a rider school in the rain before the Prix St. Georges at a Morven Park show last year, a light, athletic bay horse and a handsome rider making beautiful changes across the diagonal. He turned the changes into a half-pirouette, and it was then that I realized that he was missing half a leg.

The rider was James Dwyer, an Irish citizen who's training in the US and pursuing a berth at the Paraquestrian events at the WEG. This weekend, he swept his division at the Lamplight CDI. In the brief conversations I've had with him, I've learned he's a quiet, modest guy who deeply, deeply loves his horse. I've also learned that he could ride circles around my ass, all with what some would consider a disadvantage. He's turned his "disability" into an advantage; he can't grip a horse with his calves, bury his spurs. He has to make his horse more honest, more attentive, more crisp to smaller aids, and is the better rider for it.

Congrats, James, you've earned it!