‘She was so brave’: Sophie Wells guides rising star to an unexpected medal in Paris

Sophie Wells and LJT Egebjerggards Samoa (“Diana”) added a third bronze medal to Britain’s haul at the Paris Paralympics in the grade V individual competition, scoring 72.26%.

“She was so brave going into that arena,” Sophie said. “She’s really surprised me all week, she’s been amazing in there in training.

“But then you go in and there’s quite a few people in there, and she got a little nervous, but she’s still only eight years old.

“I held her hand through the whole test, and she listened to me, and I couldn’t be prouder of her for that. I’m very pleased but I’m also relieved it’s finished!”

LJT Egebjerggards Samoa was a late replacement for Sophie’s more experienced ride Don Cara M who had to withdraw ahead of the Games.

But despite this being the mare’s Paralympic debut, it was a familiar role for her, as she also replaced Don Cara at last summer’s European Championships.

Since then it’s clear to see how much she has developed. The pair received several eights for their voltes and shoulder-ins, and their counter canter work was exceptional.

A mistake in the collected walk between the walk pirouettes set them back, but Sophie recovered well, and despite that mistake their score here is still higher than the 71.85% they scored in the individual test at the Europeans.

“We had bits of tension and it wasn’t perfect by any means, but it’s a tough grade, and there are some great horses and riders here, so I couldn’t be prouder of her,” Sophie added.

“My aim was to be in the top eight and get through to the freestyle. Our preparations weren’t ideal having swapped horses – I was really disappointed for Don Cara’s owners, he’s such a great horse and we’ve never quite got the opportunity to really go for it together yet.

“At the last few championships whoever I’ve been on they’ve not been at their max potential.

“But at the same time, so many things happen in life and Diana is such a cool horse, I’m so lucky to be able to ride her and to have this opportunity. We’re just touching on what she can do, she just needs more life experience. She’ll be the best horse in the world at some point.

“We’ll see if we’re on the team, and then at least we get two more opportunities to dance.”

Grade V gold medal winner at Paris 2024

Reigning individual grade V Paralympic champions Michèle George and Best Of 8 successfully defended their title, scoring 76.69% to finish comfortably ahead of Germany’s Regine Mispelkamp and Highlander Delights who took silver on 73.23%.

It was Michèle’s sixth Paralympic gold, and her third on Best Of 8 – who Michèle said will not be competing at another Paralympics after Paris.

“It was amazing, she really felt like she was dancing with me, I enjoyed every second of it,” she said. “She was a little spooky coming in because she’s never competed in front of the public before, because at Tokyo it was during the pandemic. So, that was the big question mark I had with her, because she’s very sensitive – but she was just amazing.”

Michèle teamed up with the 14-year-old mare in 2019, who she found through Isabell Werth.

“Isabell said ‘I might have a horse for you’, and when she arrived I said to her, ‘Mm I don’t know, she’s not the type of horse I’d pick out of the stable’. But she said, ‘No, Michèle, trust me, you have to sit and have a ride’, and two seconds later, I knew she was the one.”

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