Obsessed with horses from a young age, Emma Booth’s dream of riding one came true when she won a competition run by the TV show The Saddle Club to win a pony and riding lessons.
Her raw talent was clear early on and in 2011 she accepted a job in Germany riding and training horses for international dressage rider Holger Schulze.
Emma’s equestrian ambitions were put on hold in 2013 when she was involved in a near-fatal car accident causing paraplegia. Other injuries included a basilar skull fracture, compound fracture of her left ankle, bleeding on the brain and abdominal trauma.
Seven months later, Emma found the strength to return to riding. Learning of her options as a Para-equestrian, she set her sights on selection for the 2016 Australian Paralympic Team.
She made her international debut in 2014 at the CPEID3* in Hartpury, UK, placing in the top 10 in three events. The highest scoring Australian athlete, she was named a reserve rider for the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France.
Emma competed in two events at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, placing fifth in the mixed dressage individual championship and ninth in the team open with teammates Sharon Jarvis, Lisa Martin and Katie Umback.
Representing Australia at her second Games at Toyko 2020, Emma competed in the Individual Championship Test Grade III to finish in eighth position, and fifth in the Dressage Individual Test Grade III. She also competed in the Australian eventing team, finishing 13th overall. She and her horse, Zidane, made history in Tokyo as the first horse and rider combination to represent Australia at two Paralympic Games.
An equine enthusiast through and through, she says that she would spend her last $10 on a bag of carrots for her horses.
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