Olympic hopeful receives welcome boost

June 17, 2011 - PRLog -- Twenty-six-year-old Ruth MacCarthy launched an appeal in April to find a horse to allow her to compete at the Olympic Games after her own horse Whisper became lame.
   
Within a few days her call had been answered by David Marsh from Sussex who owns two horses outside Frankfurt in Germany, where he works for the German Stock Exchange.

And after flying out to meet the 12-year-old Conquestadore, nicknamed Carlos, Ruth and David reached a long-term loan agreement that will see her treat him as her own until the Games.

Time was starting to run out for Ruth, who works as a paralegal at Midland law firm Wright Hassall, as selectors begin watching prospective riders at events in July so she is understandably delighted and grateful in equal measure.

“Carlos travelled over a couple of weeks ago and is now based in Ashorne near Leamington Spa where I train,” she said.

“I am unbelievably grateful to David for getting in touch and loaning me Carlos and it has been going really well so far.

“It’s still early days but he is coping really well with it all. He hadn’t been ridden by a disabled rider before but he is adapting to the changes.

“He has had no trouble settling in but the two-day journey was obviously tough on him.

“He was ridden to a high level in Germany and I am confident in mine and Carlos’ ability so we should be able to put ourselves in a good position to qualify for London 2012.

“Whisper was put into foal after she got injured but her leg seems to be holding up nicely. It is difficult to tell how she will recover.”

Ruth has been riding for over 20 years but adapted to disability sports after she broke her back, hip and pelvis, and suffered irreparable nerve damage, in a 2004 horse riding accident where a horse fell on top of her in a ‘rotational fall’.

David read about her situation on the internet while in Germany and felt it was the perfect opportunity for both Ruth and Carlos.

He said: “I was looking at the BBC Sport website, saw her story and realised that I had a horse that might fit the bill.

“It was then a case of finding out how the horse would react – fortunately Ruth got on with him straight away.

“Ruth was very happy with the horse’s character which is obviously important given what has happened to her in the past and the challenges they will face together.

“It should be good for Carlos too as I am in Germany during the week but come home most weekends so with his level of ability he was a bit wasted and he was also not too happy in the intense environment in which he was living so I thought it might be a good fit all round.

“Ruth stressed the fact that she would like me to be involved as much as possible so I will get to see them as much as I can.

“I also put in place an arrangement to allow Ruth to buy Carlos after the Games if she wishes as other people have had horses sold from under them in the past having invested a lot of time, money and effort and I didn’t want that to happen to her.”

Ruth is now looking to secure sponsorship to help her with that final push to compete at the Paralympic Games 2012. If you are interested in sponsoring Ruth, or would like to follow her blog, visit www.ruthmaccarthy.co.uk.

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