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Road to the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic Games

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After a highly successful campaign representing Australia at the 2026 World Equestrian Games, Aachen, we now have bigger goals set for the 2028 LA Paralympics.

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The Road to Los Angeles 2028In August 2026, I had the incredible honour of representing Australia at the World Championships in Aachen, Germany, with my horse, Sir Helmut. It was our first major championship together, and an experience I will never forget. Throughout the Championships, Helmut and I continued to grow stronger with every test. We improved each time we entered the arena and ultimately qualified for the top eight Freestyle Final, where we finished sixth in the world. We achieved more than I had expected from our first major international championship together, but perhaps more importantly, Aachen showed me what we are capable of.And now, the next goal is firmly in sight: The Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.Aachen was just the beginningThe results we achieved in Aachen didn’t happen by chance. I believe that you have to create your own luck, and that’s exactly what I did. The results I achieved came after months of incredibly hard work, relocating to Moss Vale to train, committing myself completely to my riding and physical preparation, and surrounding Helmut and me with an extraordinary team of people who shared the same goal for me. I was incredibly fortunate to have a coach, groom and Australian High Performance team who believed in us and worked tirelessly alongside me. It reinforced something I already knew, that success at this level is never achieved by one person. Helmut and I are still a relatively new combination, and I know there is so much more ahead of us. Aachen gave us invaluable experience and showed us where our strengths lie, where we can improve, and what will be required if we want to be competitive on the world’s biggest stage. I know what we have to do. I know the amount of work it will take. I know that we can do it. And I am completely committed to doing it.The next 20 monthsMy preparation for Los Angeles will require far more than simply riding my horse every day. To give Helmut and me the best opportunity to earn selection for the Australian Paralympic Team and perform at our best if we get there, I will need to permanently relocate to Moss Vale, NSW, to train closely with my coach, Deon Stokes.<ul><li>My weekly program will include riding and training with Deon one to two times each week, with Dion also riding and developing Helmut one to two times per week.</li><li>Off the horse, I will be completing specialised strength and conditioning training approximately five to six days each week to make my body as strong, stable and effective as possible in the saddle.</li><li>I will continue working closely with our High Performance physiotherapists to manage my body, maximise my function and ensure I recover appropriately, as well as working with a sports nutritionist to ensure I am fuelling my body for the demands of elite training and competition.</li><li>The mental side of high-performance sport is equally important. I will continue working with my sports psychologist on my mindset, focus and ability to perform under pressure throughout what will be a long and demanding campaign.</li></ul>And, of course, there is Helmut.<ul><li>His health and wellbeing will always be my highest priority. His preparation requires expert veterinary care, appropriate recovery and management, carefully planned nutrition, regular training and the support required to ensure that he arrives at every competition feeling strong, healthy, happy and ready to perform.</li></ul>Over the next 20 months of this campaign, we will also need to compete at approximately five to six qualifying events, with each competition costing roughly $5,000. It is a huge undertaking physically, mentally, logistically and financially.But I know what I am signing up for, and I am ready to do the work. What your support makes possibleRunning an international Para Dressage campaign comes with significant costs, and the next 20 months will require a substantial financial commitment.Donations through my Australian Sports Foundation campaign will help support the costs associated with:<ul><li>relocating to and living in Moss Vale so I can train consistently with my coach;</li><li>coaching and professional riding of Helmut;</li><li>Helmut’s agistment, feed, nutrition, veterinary care and day-to-day management;</li><li>strength and conditioning, physiotherapy, recovery and sports nutrition;</li><li>competition entries, travel, accommodation, transport and associated expenses; and</li><li>approximately five to six qualifying competitions at around $5,000 per event.</li></ul>Every contribution, regardless of its size, helps make another part of this campaign possible. You helped us get to Aachen. Now we’re aiming for LA.Before Aachen, I was incredibly fortunate to receive support through my ASF fundraising campaign.I cannot adequately express how grateful I am to every person who donated, shared my campaign, supported me or simply believed that Helmut and I could do it. The generosity of those who donated to Helmut and me allowed us to spend the months leading into Aachen training in Moss Vale and gave me opportunities that I simply could not have funded alone. When Helmut and I rode into that arena wearing the Australian flag, those people were part of that achievement too.And now I am asking for your support again. The goal this time is even bigger. Los Angeles 2028.I cannot promise what will happen between now and then, that is the reality of horses and high-performance sport. But I can promise what I will put into it. I will work hard. I will train. I will continue learning and improving.I will surround Helmut and myself with the best team I can, and I will do everything within my control to give us the best possible opportunity to not only earn our place on that Australian Paralympic Team, but to have even greater success in LA. My motto throughout my Aachen campaign was ‘Work Hard. Do My Best. Have No Regrets’ and I did exactly that.I know I am willing to work for it. Aachen proved to me just how much can be achieved when I completely commit myself to a goal, and it has only made me hungrier to see how far Helmut and I can go. If you choose to support our campaign, you become part of our team.Your donation isn’t simply helping to pay an entry fee, a coaching session, a bag of feed or a trip to a competition. It is helping provide the preparation and opportunities that allow Helmut and me to keep pursuing this goal. And if we are fortunate enough to ride down that centreline in Los Angeles wearing the Australian flag, I want every person who helped us along the way to know that they played a part in getting us there.For that, I will always be incredibly grateful. Aachen showed us what is possible. Now the work towards Los Angeles begins. My StoryFor those who aren’t familiar with my story and would like to understand more about my impairment, injuries and the journey that ultimately led me to Para Dressage, I have shared more below.In 2017, my life changed when a horse fell on me and crushed my lower back. The accident caused extensive injuries to my spine and nerves, initially leaving me paralysed.Following years of rehabilitation, I regained much of my function and eventually returned to riding and competing. Persistent severe pain remained one of the greatest challenges and, after more than 30 failed procedures, in early 2021 I had a spinal cord stimulator implanted to help manage it. The stimulator gave me back my old life. I was pain free, off all pain medication for the first since my injury, and living my life to the fullest. I returned to full time study, was riding multiple horses a day, working part time, in the gym 5-6 days a week and running over 100km a week.Six months later, my life changed for a second time when I received a high-voltage electrocution. The electrical current conducted through the wires and the leads of my spinal cord stimulator, resulting in further spinal cord damage and neurological impairment. I was once again faced with extensive rehabilitation and learning how to live and ride, with a body that worked very differently from the one I had known before.That journey eventually led me to Para Dressage.What initially felt like another enormous setback ultimately opened a completely different path for me. I am a firm believer in ‘everything happens for a reason’ and that ‘there is a positive to every negative’, you just have to figure out what that is. Through Para Dressage I found an opportunity to return to elite sport, represent my country and pursue goals I once could never have imagined. My injuries and disability are part of my story, but they are not what I want to define it. Today, my focus is on what comes next.In 2026, that meant representing Australia at the World Championships and finishing sixth in the world.Now, it means giving everything I have to the next chapter.Los Angeles 2028. Thank you so much to everyone who supports Helmut and myself work towards our goals and dreams ❤️&#127462;&#127482;