By Derek Schlennstedt
For aspiring paralympian Bridget Murphy, horse riding is in her blood.
“There’ wasn’t a question of not having horses for me,” she told the Mail.
“I was born with the gene, my mum was into horses and so was my grandfather. It’s just in the family.”
The driven and motivated 31-year-old from Healesville is ramping up her efforts to fulfil her dream of representing Australia at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Over the next 10 months, Bridget will travel to Sydney twice and compete in five qualifying Para-dressage events, before the Paralympic team is announced in mid-2020.
Up until now, with the help of her sponsors, Bridget has been able to self-fund her competitions, but as the intensity, frequency and financial demands of competitions needed to qualify for the Tokyo Team increases, so to does the financial burden.
“To get qualified we have to do set competitions and if we have to travel to them then the costs quickly add up,” She said.
“It’s certainly not cheap and we have to go to Sydney twice.”
The Yarra Valley community has rallied to support the Para-dressage rider, and two fundraisers are being held in the coming months, with all funds going towards her Paralympic journey.
A special viewing of ‘Ride Like a Girl’ – the true story of Michelle Payne – will be held on 26 September at Chirnside Reading Cinemas, followed by a dressage day fundraiser at the Yarra Glen Pony Club on October 20.
“The first one is a movie promo night at reading cinemas in Chirnside and we booked out a private cinema for Ride Like a Girl, the Michelle Payne story, and then the next one is in October and that’s a dressage competition with both raising money to support the cost of the campaign,” Bridget said.
In the meantime, Bridget trains as often as she can and has recently acquired a new horse, which, along with Sunny will take her all the way to the Paralympics.
Nicknamed ‘The Wonder Pony,’ Tash, a nine-year-old welsh cob has temporarily replaced her other horse Sunrise.
“I’m not sure how I’ve been so lucky to have two amazing ponies join me on my Para-dressage journey,” she said.
“It’s a bit of a change of plan, but anything can happen with horses. I’m just trying to make the most of each day, get the most out of each ride, and things are looking good so far.”
“It’s still very early with a new horse but exciting … she has lots of promise.”
Tickets to see the movie fundraiser have almost sold out, so get in quick.
“I really want to thank my sponsors and everyone for the support so far, it’s been really overwhelming how much people are cheering behind me,” Bridget said.
All donations made over $2 are fully tax deductible and will go towards the competition fees, interstate travel costs for horse and rider, accommodation and equipment needed to compete and campaign for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
To find out more about the fundraising events go to https://www.facebook.com/bmurphyparaequestrian/ and to donate directly go to https://bit.ly/2lVdvFV
