Sara Morganti: “Horses help me concentrate on the positive things in my life...…”

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

The Para Equestrian Digest is the FEI’s online Para Sport magazine, bringing you first-person stories from athletes and the people connected to the sport.

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…

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!

Please click here to read the rest of the article as it appears on the FEI website.