Emma Douglas

It’s been a while since my last addition to the magazine. Long story short, I had a bad fall in 2016 where I managed to break my back again in 2 places. Along side this I broke my pelvis and my right ankle which took some time to recover and a year out of the saddle, then making the decision to sell the horse I had at the time.

After a long search, Rabbit came into my life at the end of 2017. I spent the winter/spring of 2018 getting to know her, and after a few competitions we were selected for our first international which was held at Bishop Burton College. We then qualified for our first major championship the Para Dressage Winter Championships which we sadly never got to as I had an unplanned dismount 2 days before we were due to leave. I ended up in Stoke Mandeville Hospital for 5 days with a fractured left femur, so I was in a full leg brace for 6 weeks. Hoping to be back in the saddle this summer!

I was very honoured to join Team Hybrid Clip on Handcycles as an Ambassador last summer, and was very kindly suppled with a Cougar Hybrid Handcycle to assist with my fitness programme! I have owned a Team Hybrid Handcycle for the last 10 years and just love the freedom they give for getting about in the great outdoors, and the excellent cardio work out you get! The Hybrid option gives you the benefit of power assist which is a fantastic feature. It helps get you get up inclines you may struggle in a manual cycle and also it gives your shoulders a break if you struggle. My Cougar will also be my latest bit of kit to come to competitions with me to help me get about the show grounds.

We headed to Solihull on the 11/12th of March for British Equestrian Federation World Class Programme selection trials, to hopefully be selected on to the Pathway squad. I was obviously not taking part in the riding element. Hopefully I will be able to update you with more exciting news in the winter.