The Italian discusses changing cultural attitudes and her Paris 2024 plans...

For this first edition of 2023, The Para Equestrian Digest speaks to Italian four-time World Champion, European silver and bronze medallist, and Paralympic bronze medallist Sara Morganti, 46, about her sporting journey and how horses have helped her with managing Multiple Sclerosis…

Here's Sara in action at last year's FEI World Championships in Herning..

Horses help me concentrate on the positive things in my life...

“I started riding at a small equestrian centre near my home town in Italy when I was 13- years-old. My parents didn’t have the money to pay for lessons, so I would clean out the boxes, feed and saddle the horses in exchange for riding time.

When I was 19-years-old, I started seeing double and had difficulty walking. After many tests and visits to the doctors, I learned I had Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

At the time of the diagnosis, I honestly thought that my life as I knew it had come to an end. And if someone had told me then, that one day I would win numerous medals in the sport of Para Dressage, I would have never believed them.

I didn't discover Para Dressage as a sport until 2005, almost 10 years after my diagnosis. At that time there was no internet and it was hard to get information about this little known Paralympic sport in Italy. I found Silvia Lucchesi who specialised in Para Dressage and I started working with her and took part in two national championships in 2005 and 2006, where I won with a school horse. It was a truly incredible feeling!

I had to stop riding for a couple of years after that as the disease had affected my spinal cord and damaged my nervous system, which meant I suffered from neuropathic chronic pain. When the pain didn’t stop, I decided I just had to get back on a horse again. If I could support such a high level of pain, I could definitely ride a horse. At least I’m always happy when I ride!

So I went back to riding in 2009, and took part in my first European Championship in Kristiansand (NOR) that year with Dollaro De Villanova, who was on loan to me. Together we won our first bronze medal. That competition was just the start and has led to many more medals at national, regional and World Championships, as well as three Paralympics, most of them with my horse Royal Delight.

Paris 2024

I now have my eye on Paris 2024 and am training every day, alongside all my physical therapy. In addition to Royal Delight, I also have two other horses, Ferdinand and Mariebelle. It’s really wonderful to have the three of them recognise me and come to greet me when I arrive at the stables. Even if I can't ride that day because I’m in too much pain, it brings me a great deal of joy just to be with them.

Although I choose to ride Royal Delight as she is the most competitive out of the three, Mariebelle is also starting to step up and show me her potential. Mariebelle is very different to Royal as she has a sweeter temperament and it’s easy to work with her.

Royal Delight and I have such a successful partnership because of our connection. She has a strong character and you really have to understand her so that you can get the best out of her. I knew she had what it takes to be a champion when I got her, and I’ve been very lucky to find Laura Conz and Alessandro Benedetti, two trainers who understand her well and have helped us both perform at the best level possible. But Royal Delight knows me as well as I know her and even after 12 years of being together, she still gives me everything in a competition.

I feel lucky to have the opportunity to ride and be with horses, and to be part of the Para Dressage world. My horses have adapted to my disability. As the muscles in my body are weak, I use looped reins, so that I don’t lose them while riding, and I often wear a collar to support my neck. My feet are fixed in my stirrups with an elastic band, and I communicate with my horses through tapping them and with voice commands.

I have a progressive form of Multiple Sclerosis and I often wake up tired and in a lot of pain. If I didn’t have horse riding as a passion, I think it would have been more difficult to deal with my condition and I honestly don’t know if I would be as happy. Horses help me concentrate on today and think positively about the future. When I think about tomorrow, I focus on the upcoming European Championships and going to the Paralympic Games in Paris next year. Horses help me concentrate on the positive things in my life.

Opportunities

I wish I could tell people who have just been told they have MS that their life is not over. I wish that I could get them to see the opportunities that they still have. I know that I was in a dark place when I got my diagnosis but I would say that they shouldn't concentrate on what they don't have any longer, but to concentrate on what they can still do.

There needs to be more information available on MS, especially on the invisible aspects of this disease. It’s not just that I need to use a wheelchair because I have MS. The constant fatigue that I experience is a result of the neuropathic pain and is not a psychological side effect of the disease as most people believe.

And there are still many cultural attitudes to accessibility that need to be addressed.

I’ve experienced this a few times when travelling and I have reserved a wheelchair accessible hotel room, only to find on arrival that the room is so small that I can’t even get into it, or access the sink when I open the door to the bathroom. On a few occasions, I have been given a room with a bathtub, even though I’ve explicitly asked for one with a walk-in shower. I’ve been told, “Unfortunately, all our disabled rooms are occupied!” or “A friend of mine is also in a wheelchair and she can get into a bathtub!”

But conditions are improving and I have seen progress over the years. When I first started going to University, I had a lot of difficulty getting into classes because there wasn't a space large enough to park a wheelchair and I didn’t have a desk. Today, the classrooms are more accessible and all efforts are made to reduce these barriers where possible.

I’ve been lucky to have a supportive husband and family who have given me the freedom to try to do anything I wanted without overprotecting me. Even if they secretly believe that I’m making a mistake, they let me try. I think this is very difficult for a partner and family to do because you want to protect the person you love who has this disease. If I could offer one piece of advice to the families, friends and partners of people with MS it would be this: just be there and give the person the freedom to try out anything they would like to do.”