 Sue-Ellen Lovett at 2000 Sydney Paralympics. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 October 1959 Mudgee, New South Wales |
| Sport | |
| Country | Australia |
| Sport | Para-equestrian |
Sue-Ellen Lovett (née Lee ; born 12 October 1959) OAM is an Australian para-equestrian. She represented Australia at the 1996 and 2000 Sydney Paralympics. She has raised over $3 million for Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, cancer and other charities.
Lovett was born on 12 October 1959 in Mudgee, New South Wales. [1] She grew up on a 21,000 acre property outside Mudgee in NSW. At the age of 12, she was diagnosed with the hereditary condition retinitis pigmentosa. [2] Her mother Mary had the same eyesight disease. [2] Since 1981 she has used a guide dog. [2] In 1989, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and underwent three operations. [3] In 2000, she married agricultural teacher Matthew Lovett and they live on his family's property outside Dubbo. [2] In 2012, she filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission after being asked to leave two restaurants and a hotel in Picton because of her guide dog. [4] She is now completely blind. [2]
Lovett grew up riding horses on her family's property. She took up dressage in 1994. [2] At the 1996 Atlanta Summer Paralympics, she finished 13th in the Mixed Dressage Grade IV and 11th in the Mixed Kur Canter Grade IV. [5]
Between 1995 and 2000, she was National RDA Grade 4 Champion. At the 1999 World Dressage Championships in Denmark, she was a member of the Australian team that won the bronze medal. [6]
At the 2000 Sydney Summer Paralympics, she finished eighth Mixed Dressage - Championship Grade IV, fifth in the Mixed Dressage - Freestyle Grade IV and as a member of the Australian team fifth in the Mixed Dressage Team Open. [5] After representing, Australia at the Sydney Paralympics, Lovett turned her focus to able-bodied competition and mentoring successful junior riders. [2] She qualified for the Competition Dressage International in Sydney from 2009 to 2013. [6]
In 2018, she was competing in dressage competitions by using six to eight "living markers" friends and volunteers who call out letters of the alphabet, directing her around the course. In 2018, she was being sponsored by businessman Terry Snow. [2]
In October 2018, she completed her tenth fund raising ride when she rode Australian Stock horses with her guide dog Armani, over more than 800 km, starting in Dubbo then travelling through Central West NSW and finishing at Dubbo Racecourse to raise funds for new Integrated Wellness Centre to be located within the Oncology Department of Dubbo Base Hospital. [6] She has raised over $3 million for Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, cancer and other charities. [2]
Anne Patricia Dunham OBE is a British Para-equestrian who has competed in the Paralympic Games.
Julie Elizabeth Higgins, OAM is an Australian equestrian rider who won two gold medals at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney.
Amy Louise Winters, OAM is an arm amputee Australian Paralympic athlete. She won seven medals at three Paralympic Games, including five gold medals.
Rosalie Fahey is a Paralympic equestrian competitor from Australia. She won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Games in the Mixed Dressage – Championship grade I event.
Marita Hird is a Paralympic equestrian competitor from Australia. She won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Games in the Mixed Dressage – Freestyle grade III event.
Jan Pike ' is a Paralympic equestrian competitor from Australia. She was born in Sydney. Pike won a bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Games in the Mixed Dressage – Freestyle grade I event and a silver medal in the Mixed Dressage – Championship grade I event.
Georgia Bruce is an expert in equine behavior and psychology. She specializes in the positive reinforcement based training method known as "Clicker Training". Georgia has written two books about clicker training horses and has also produced an Online Training Course on equine clicker training. Bruce gives lessons, clinics, trick shows and clicker training demonstrations around Australia. Her broad repertoire of horse training skills includes training trick horses, liberty horses, wild horses, starting young horses and retraining horses with problem behaviours. Bruce also has extensive experience training horses for high level performance in both dressage and reining.
Joann Formosa, is an Australian Para-equestrian, who won a gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympics.
Hannah Dodd is an Australian Grade IV equestrian and 1.0 point wheelchair basketball player who represented Australia in equestrian at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, coming 11th and 12th in her events. Switching to wheelchair basketball, she made her debut with the national team at the Osaka Cup in February 2015.
Grace Bowman is an Australian equestrian. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the equestrian event. She did not medal at the 2012 Games.
Para-equestrian classification is a system for para-equestrian sport. It is a graded system based on the degree of physical or visual disability and handled at the international level by the FEI. The sport has eligible classifications for people with physical and vision disabilities. Groups of eligible riders include The sport is open to competitors with impaired muscle power, athetosis, impaired passive range of movement, hypertonia, limb deficiency, ataxia, leg length difference, short stature, and vision impairment. They are grouped into five different classes to allow fair competition. These classes are Grade I, Grade II, Grade III, Grade IV, and Grade V(Grade Names Changed as of Jan 2017). The para-equestrian classification does not consider the gender of the rider, as equestrines compete in mixed gender competitions.
Michèle George is a Paralympic equestrian of Belgium. She won seven gold and one silver medal at the Paralympic Games.
Natasha Louise Baker is a British para-equestrian who won 2 gold medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, 3 at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, and 1 more in the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Nicole Cassandra Kullen was an Australian equestrian paralympian.
Sharon Jarvis is an Australian para-equestrian. She represented Australia at the three Summer Paralympics - 2008 Beijing, 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo.
Lisa Martin is an Australian para-equestrian. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Equestrian was first introduced to in the 1984 Summer Paralympics and consisted of 12 events, all of which were mixed.
Amelia White is an Australian para-equestrian. She represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Anne Cecilie Ore is a Norwegian paralympic athlete. She participated in two Summer Paralympic Games, where she has won five medals in horse riding. She also competes among able-bodied riders.
Nathalie Bizet is a French Para-Equestrian Dressage rider. She won a bronze medal.
