Paralympian equestrian Phlippa Johnson continues to make solid progress on the international scene, writes Mark Etheridge.
The two-time gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics competed in an able-bodied dressage event, the CD14* Roosendaal, in the Netherlands.
On this occasion she was atop Verdi: ‘He did me proud ! In the Prix St George he didn’t make any big mistakes – obviously there are always little things that can be made better but he gave me a lovely ride. We finished 11th out of 18 horses with 64.81% which I have to say I was very disappointed with.
‘For the Int 1 Kur he again gave me a fabulous ride, unfortunately he did spook in the one corner which caused us to fluff our 2’s but I was able to do them again on the centre line at the end.
Again, a disappointing score of 66.02% which placed us 12th out of 16 horses.
‘What I’m pleased about is that we seem to be over our hiccup that we had at the Belgium Championships and I can again count on him in the ring!
‘For my feeling we have again stepped up a level as he is now bringing a whole new level of power into the ring which I now need to learn to ride!’
Paralympian Johnson steps up to next level with Verdi
