Victoria ‘Vic’ Davies’ equine passion began early through her parents who were heavily involved in breeding and competing horses. She won her first competition as a toddler but, in her early teens, became too weak to ride and started using crutches and a wheelchair. She had been diagnosed with the degenerative disease Rheumatoid arthritis at age nine.
Remarkably, after two hip replacements, Vic was able to get back on a horse at the age of 19. From there, she hasn’t looked back.
Around that time, Vic was invited to a high-performance squad camp, where she was awestruck by the Para-riders’ fierce determination as they trained for the upcoming Paralympics. She decided in that moment that she wanted to join them.
Success has come at a price for Vic. She describes the effects as “severe destruction” to her body, with some 42 operations, multiple joint replacements, fusions, scarred organs, nerve and spinal cord damage. In 2016, she was forced to withdraw from the Paralympic European Qualifiers after being diagnosed with a neck condition called ‘Basilar Invagination’, in which her neck collapsed, pushing her spine into the base of her skull.
Still, Vic refused to stop riding, despite the risks, and continued to train each day, following her dream of competing at the Paralympics.
She achieved this dream when she made her Paralympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, competing with her horse Celere. The duo finished in ninth position in the Grade II Dressage Individual Test with a score of 65.618%.
Vic loves travelling and competing but says her favourite thing is to spend time with her husband Michael and their horses at their Stud on the NSW South Coast.
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