A new video goes “inside the lorry” with Australian eventer Shane Rose, who is inarguably one of the most tenacious figures in our sport, in the runup to his first trip around Badminton Horse Trials.
As an athlete Shane has enjoyed both highs — including a team silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and a win in the Adelaide CCI4* in 2015 — and lows. Twice previously after being named to the Olympic team horse injuries kept him from competing. He had already arrived in the U.S. in preparation for the 1996 Games in Atlanta when his mount, Mr. Joe Cool, went lame. He also missed the 2012 Games in London when his mount that year, Taurus, sustained a shoulder injury at the start of the competition. Then, at the 2016 Games in Rio, the cross country course got the better of him and his mount, CP Qualified, as it did for many competitors.
Competitive setbacks are one thing, but Shane has been confronted with higher-stakes challenges as well — of the life-or-death variety. In addition to having his thyroid removed after contracting cancer, over the course of the last 15 years Shane has broken both arms, twice; broken both his legs; underwent a tracheotomy and some facial reconstruction after getting kicked; and, in 2015, broke five ribs, punctured a lung, suffered a split liver and had a severe bacterial infection.
And yet here Shane is in 2017, still standing, still fighting, still loving his sport, and now gearing up to tackle this year’s “swashbuckling” Badders track. If that isn’t the heart of eventing, what is? Here’s hoping the stars align for this unflaggingly enthusiastic and hardworking athlete at Badminton 2017.
Go Shane. Go Eventing!
