In The Saddle with Nathan Harvey

This article is from the July 2020 Horse Deals magazine.

Life with horses can be... trying, unpredictable, consuming. It is no secret that owning horses and riding competitively can be a real test of your emotional fortitude, strength of character and your bank balance. Imagine living your horse life with numerous disabilities. This is the reality for Nathan Harvey.

“I turned 33 years old on the first of June and I am a professional dressage rider,” begins Nathan. “I live with my mum and my stepdad Steff at North Maclean, Queensland, maybe 1km from our dressage club which is awesome!”

“People say I led a lonely life growing up. Sure, the mainstream kids at school would tease me and beat me up. I would try to find a different route to the school bus, especially Fridays. I always looked forward to the weekends, my mum took my sister and I to Denman Pony Club. My older sister was also an accomplished horsewoman, I idolised her. I was with my horse from when school finished to school starting. I do not feel like I have a disability when I am with my horses.”

At the age of 18 years, Nathan had it all. He passed his Higher School Certificate with honours, tech awarded for hospitality. He had a job and was going for his license. Nathan began losing his eyesight, and after two failed corneal transplants, Nathan was left visually impaired. But nothing deters Nathan’s dreams and quests for his team of horses, he just needed to change his plans.

In a way, Nathan had to learn to ride all over again. It was a case of the right horse coming along at the right time when his mother, Kim Harvey, purchased a competition horse named Robbie. Within weeks she had lost the ride to Nathan. The 17hh Warmblood took Nathan to the Australian National Selections for the Special Olympic Games at Melbourne. He won a gold, silver and bronze but it was not quite good enough for selection to ride at the World Games.

“I met Sue-Ellen Lovett at the Brisbane CDI,” explains Nathan. “Sue said that the main thing for dressage was to count the strides in each movement.

“At first this was difficult, but with help from mum, we got it. Her final advice was; Find a good instructor. The para tests are bloody hard, but if you give it your best, you will have that moment.”

And Nathan found more than a good instructor in Matthew Lord. “Matthew does not sugar coat a lesson just because I have a disability. He drives me to ride better than my best. After each lesson he will ask me what I learnt that day and each time I can now answer him with confidence. I competed in the Official Open on both my horses Dom and Flip and rode against the best. It was not long before we stopped placing last and got into the top 10-15 placings.”

“It was my birthday in June 2018, when I did not feel life could get any better,” recounts Nathan. “That day, a letter arrived saying I was in the Australian Special Olympics Equestrian Team; I was going to Abu Dhabi to join my three teammates for the Australian Equestrian Team.”

“In Abu Dhabi, alongside my Australian Team, entering into the most amazing huge stadium jammed packed with people from all over the world was my win,” says Nathan. “That walk was my starting line. Everything else was a bonus.”

“Mum flipped out when she heard that I had won two gold medals, and one bronze medal in the showjumping. She was screaming around the house and Steff said he was enormously proud and was crying.”

Being involved with horses is a great leveller. Following a year of successes for Nathan including winning medals at the Special Olympics, taking out Elite Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability and overall Sports Person of the Year in esteemed company, came a frightening low. When taking a young horse on an outing, the horse threw it’s head, in turn hitting Nathan in the head, and the pair fell together, the young horse crushing Nathan.

“I thought Nathan was going to die, he was screaming and not breathing well,” recalls Kim. “Watching my son in such terrible pain was unbearable. In the ambulance he stopped breathing – his lungs collapsed and he had been shocked with the paddles. He had suffered a broken collar bone, broken shoulder, seven broken ribs, right side collapsed lung, internal hematoma at the hip, respiratory failure that required intubation, broken pelvis and broken sacrum left and right.”

“After three surgeries, Nathan remained on the hospital bed for a week,” Kim continues. “His back was actually fixed back to straight again and he could not move for two days. On that third day though, Nathan was walking on a walker. None of the medical staff could believe what they were seeing. Each day was a miracle, for Nathan to be alive and be as well as he was.”

After four weeks, Nathan was able to return home and just three months later he was back on a horse; one that does not buck or shy, completely bombproof, and cannot bolt; Cedric the Horse Simulator from Elsam Equestrian Solutions. This horse slowly brought back Nathan’s confidence, balance and trust.

Four months to the day of the accident, Nathan was riding again after clearance from the doctors. “Nathan has ridden every day since then,” Kim says.

What does the future hold for Nathan? He is aiming for the 2024 Paralympics and hopes to train a horse to Prix St. George. Nathan is also looking to raise funds to develop an Equestrian Centre for people with different abilities that can cater for all levels of riders.

“I consider my love of horses contagious because I am very driven to introducing horses to people with different abilities,” Nathan beams. “I show them how easy it is to love horses and to learn from them. To me, the horse is an angel, a gift from heaven to be treated with love and respect until the day they are taken back by God.”

Article: Kim Harvey in conjunction with the Horse Deals Team

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