Bettina Eistel of Germany won the bronze medal in division III at the Paralympics in Hong Kong this week. She was born without arms. Notice both sets of reins.
View a gallery of photos from the Games, from which this one was selected, on Yahoo.com's horse racing channel. Great Britain won team gold with three out of four riders scoring over 70! The USA finished 10th.
I hope the Paralympics will earn a lot of good press this week and help restore some good will to equestrian sports after the embarrassment of the drug test violations in horses competing at the "real" Olympics.
Maybe the Paralympics is the real Olympics. It certainly embodies the spirit of what the Games are supposed to represent, perhaps much more than professional riders are capable to pretending to convey.
