Young Rowan Bishop achieves more
"It has made my heart swell with pride to know Rowan is one of the best riders in the world,” added Dalene.
ROWAN Bishop (22) from Mulbarton, recently took part in the Special Olympics World Games held in Abu Dhabi in March and achieved one gold and two silver medals in equestrian.
Special Olympics turned 50 last year and half a century on, it has made the world a more tolerant and inclusive place.
Fifty years ago it began as a backyard, one-day event which has turned into a global phenomenon that has undeniably changed the lives of millions or so people with intellectual disabilities, for the better.
Special Olympics equestrian encompasses several disciplines and has been a showcase at the Special Olympics World Games since 1987. It features high technique, skill and connection. It is also a dramatic and graceful sport that provides a high level of competition across events including dressage, English equitation and gymkhana.
Twenty-four sports competed this year and a total of 500 000 spectators looked on as the athletes showed their worth in their different sport categories.
One of the best
From the age of five years old, Rowan has been riding horses and when he attended Forest Town School he attended riding for the disabled. Over the years he has ridden at Jod’s Riding Centre with Felicia Rowan, with Southern Riding School and in South African National Equestrian Schools Association (SANESA), against abled riders.
His mom Dalene, is rightly so, extremely proud of him and she went to the Special Olympics to cheer him on. “His love for horses is so great and I’ve been told, as much as it’s therapy for special needs children and adults to ride horses, they too have a calming effect on the horses themselves,” Dalene said.
Rowan rode in the English Working Trail Level A, where he won a silver medal, the English Equitation Level B5 winning another silver and in the Gymkhana – Concepts of Riding and a Figure Eight he came away with a gold medal.
“It was the most amazing time being at the Special Olympics. Seeing so many people with intellectual disabilities going out there and triumphing above all odds was wonderful and it has made my heart swell with pride to know Rowan is one of the best riders in the world,” added Dalene.
Read:
Forty years of grooming equestrians
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