Becca Hart and Lord Ludger (Lolu ) at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Photo used with Becca’s kind permission.
Heads up, Eventing Nation – If you can’t get near a television to watch Good Morning America on Wednesday morning (October 10th), you’re going to want to set your recording devices. Rebecca Hart, five time USEF National Para-Dressage Champion and multi-time WEG and Olympian will be making a guest appearance WITH her 2012 Olympic partner, USA Team coach Missy Ransehousen’s ex Prix St George horse, Lord Ludger. I spoke to Becca who told me that a tv film crew will visit her at Blue Hill Farm on Monday to get footage of her riding and do some background interviews. Then on Wednesday, Lolu and Irish ParaEquestrian James Dwyer’s horse, Ben will ship to New York City, and Becca and Ann Romney, who is guest co-hosting that day, will both ride together.
Becca explained that Ann, who suffers from MS, remenbered chatting to her when she presented her with her award at the 2012 National Championships, and hence the invitation. Becca realises that this certainly won’t harm Ann’s image, but told me it’s not politically motivated at all. Ann and her, she shared, had connected in New Jersey at the Championships over their common bond – Ann rides and is involved with horses to help with her MS and disability stemming from that, and Becca herself first started riding as physical therapy for her condition, Familial Spastic Paraplegia, “We had an honest connection between her therapy programme and my personal therapy.” Becca added that she’s “petrified, but also very excited. I’m trying to train myself that I’m totally cool with it all, but inside I’m going OH MY GOD!”
Becca isn’t sure yet what she’ll wear on Wednesday, whether she’ll be in Team USA gear, or breeches, or a mixture of both. I asked her how she thought the horses would react to being in the Big Apple and she told me she’s hoping for the best, ” They handled London beautifully, and we’ll have lots of people helping.”
Starbucks, where Becca works part time, helped Becca get to the Games in London by sponsoring her, and letting her arrange her schedule and vacation days to suit her competition and training calendar; Howard Schultz, the CEO, called her up personally to speak to her, and I was almost as gobsmacked as she was when she recounted the story to me earlier this year.
Hoping, in purely Showbiz terms of course, that Becca breaks a leg, and can’t wait to cheer her on from my sofa, once again! Go Becca and Lolu, and Go Team USA Para-Equestrians!
