West Pinchbeck based paralympian international Bert Sheffield has taken a giant step to towards the World Equestrian Games in America after excelling in a qualifying event in Italy.
Bert, who works at the FourWinds Equestrian Centre, has represented Canada on the international stage since 2013, including at the Rio Paralympics in 2016.
The 37-year-old, who was diagnosed with the joint debilitating disease rheumatoid arthritis aged 15, is now hoping to add to her CV by taking part on the world stage again in North Carolina in September.
She and trusted horse Bailaor passed half of the scores they needed to gain one of the four spots on the Canadian team for the games at the Somma Lombardo CPEDI Three Star qualifying event in northern Italy.
Scores of 68.225 per cent in the team category, 68.137 per cent in the individual category and a 70.000 per cent score in the freestyle category were enough to win all three and the overall title.
Bert now needs to pass another set of scores in a forthcoming event at either Hartbury or Bishop Burton which would effectively seal her place on the team.
The event in Italy marked her first competition after her re-classification as a Grade Three athlete in terms of her disability with five being the highest level of disability and one the lowest.
But Bert swept the board with the 16-year-old Spanish stallion Bailaor to win the class and crucially in a high enough score for the qualifying standards.
“It was a very chaotic trip,” Bert said. “We had trouble getting there and due to bad weather the ferry initially refused to take Bailaor back home so it took two days to get back.
“But while we were out there it went really well. It was a level in the middle of a beautiful national park near the Alps.
“I was delighted to get the scores I did and now it’s about getting another score and I will then be in a very good chance of going to America with the team.”
Bert was born in Britain but has always had dual nationality due to her Canadian parents. Her father Jim was a world champion shooter.
She continued: “I always feel really proud to hear the Canadian national anthem and see the maple leaf flag raising and it was great to see it again in Italy.
“Canada have a good record in Paralympic equestrian tournaments but we’re not kind of seen as one of the big nations in the sport and you hear a lot of the British and the Netherlands anthems, so it’s always really nice to hear ours.
“Just representing my country is really good and a great honour. It means a lot to me.”
As well as the World Games, Bert is also looking towards the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo and she describes her Rio performances as being a “disaster”.
When you ask her about her career highlights so far, she says: “I see everything as another step in the road on to the next thing. Every experience takes you somewhere else and it’s all about learning as you go.
“If you don’t do that then I think that you lose that joy of doing what you love and it becomes stale.
“It is an especially important mentality in equestrianism as the horses pick up on your moods. They can sense if you’ve built up to an event as everything and you’re panicking they can sense it.”
Bert, who is puts her success down to growing up around sports people through her family, is thankful for the life she has.
“I don’t see my disability as a major problem. It’s opened so many doors to me. If I was an able-bodied athlete I don’t think I would have the talent nor the money to be able to compete at the Olympics and internationally.
“But instead I’ve competed around the world and I also get to train and ride horses for a living which I love.”
