International Para-Dressage rider Sydney Collier and her sponsors are hoping that her new Bell Bottoms will be her ticket to Paris.
Since the end of the 2022 Wellington, Florida, show season, Collier and her trainer, international dressage competitor and clinician Devon Kane of Diamante Farms, were on the lookout for a new horse. Collier was competing in Grade 1 para-dressage aboard All In One, a 2009 Hanoverian gelding (Abanos-Dauphine) purchased for the rider in July of 2019 by Georgina Bloomberg. Collier and “Alle” were named Reserve Champions at the 2022 Adequan/USEF Para Dressage National Championships, but it became increasingly evident that the judges thought she needed an international medal winning horse.
Sydney’s service dog Logan, Terri Kane, Sydney Collier, Georgina Bloomberg.
Photo by Jump Media
So, the year-long search began to find the one-in-a-million horse to help her reach her goal to compete in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France.
“Finding a horse with the perfect walk with the quality to contend for medals in the Paralympics is certainly no small feat,” the 25-year-old Collier said. “It was quite a process, requiring a lot of patience and a lot of trial and error and a lot of great opportunities.” Meanwhile, Collier and Kane were also training with Alle for the 2022 Festival of Champions and his final para-dressage competition. “I use the word whirlwind, but all of last summer and especially during the fall months we knew we needed to find the perfect match because obviously it’s crunch time for the qualification for Paris. Nothing really just fit all of our criteria and perfectly clicked with me.”
Collier needed a horse with a metronome-like medium walk, the personality to accept that she can’t feel or use the left-side of her body, and the ability to go forward properly in a snaffle since she rides one-handed. At a young age, she was diagnosed with Wyburn-Mason Syndrome, a life-threatening condition causing arteries and veins to grow together to form vascular malformations deep within her brain and one behind her right eye affecting her vision and the left side of her body.As the rider and her trainer tried horses, Kane had a feeling that a mare that would bond with Collier would be the perfect choice.
Then, they found Bell Bottoms, a2014 Oldenburg mare (Benetton Dream-Issandra).
“The first time I tried her, it was right next to a polo field and there were galloping polo players next to the ring and she was not even paying attention to them; she was just doing her thing,” Collier said. “My favorite part the entire ride was her big ears were just flopping so happily. Then the second ride, it got even better and it gets better and better every day.”
At the end of the trial period in March, Georgina Bloomberg and Devon Kane’s mother Terri, who owns Diamante Farms with her daughter, purchased Bell Bottoms for Collier. Terri Kane had been sponsoring Collier for about a year before she helped with the purchase of BB. Then, Trixi Marineaux of BM Dressage and her husband Mike joined the sponsorship team to help the rider achieve her goal.
“To have my sponsors come together and make it happen for me was just something out of a fairytale,” Collier said. “I don’t know that I’ll ever have the right words to express my gratitude for this opportunity that they’ve given me. Through my journey, my biggest hope is that their support brings more owners and more people who are interested in para-dressage to give more riders like me these opportunities. We truly couldn’t do it without the horse owners and the sponsors who make it possible for us.”
Never one to be still very long, Collier trains on Bell Bottoms, aka BB, as well as Alle at Diamante Farms five days a week.
“One of the things I like most about working with Sydney is her enthusiasm: her enthusiasm for life and her joy of riding,” her trainer said. “It’s extremely contagious when she comes to the barn: you can’t help but be overtaken with this overwhelming atmosphere of happiness and kindness and excitement that Sydney brings with her. So that’s always extremely welcoming and it always makes everyone around her feel good. As a trainer, Sydney is one of the best students to work with because she’s so committed to her sport and career and aspirations.”
Photo from Sydney Collier’s personal collection
Besides riding her horses five days a week, Collier is also pursuing an MBA at the Keller Graduate School of Management on a full scholarship from the United States Paralympic Committee, and she’s writing a book about finding para-dressage and plans to use it as a catalyst to help people strive for their own goals.
She represented the U.S. at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France, and was a member of Team USA at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, riding Western Rose, a 2013 Oldenburg mare (Wendelin III-Grunwolke),owned by Wesley Dunham. Collier and Alle were also selected as the traveling reserve combination for the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Now, she is getting to know BB and plans to enter the competition arena as soon as possible so she can move closer toward her goal of being a part of Team USA in Paris in 2024.
Bloomberg, who has been part of Collier’s team since 2017, is also one of the rider’s biggest fans. “Sydney is the most determined rider I have ever met, and I am in awe of her work ethic and dedication to this sport. It’s been an honor to support her over the years, and to be a part of her journey. I am beyond excited to watch her compete with this talented new horse, and to cheer on this new partnership.”
Terri Kane vividly remembers when she and Sydney first had lunch to discuss the rider’s plans. “I called my friend on my way home, and said ‘I just met the most incredible young lady.’ I had chatted with her before at the shows but never really had a real conversation with her. The more I get to know her, the more I love her. That’s just how Sydney is. She is intelligent, witty, and an extremely dedicated, hard worker. One of the things I never thought about was how much work non-able-bodied riders have to put in outside the barn so that they can ride their horse. She impresses me beyond words and I am so proud to be part of her team.”
Marineau met Collier through what she calls serendipity and direction from a higher power. “One day we were at Global [Dressage Festival showgrounds in Wellington] and Sydney and her mother happened to be sitting with one of my grooms. We joined them and we talked and we talked and, all of a sudden, it was almost three hours later.” Marineau had a horse that she thought would work for Collier, but the horse had some health issues and meanwhile, Collier found BB. “We were so sad that we couldn’t help her out with a horse and my husband and I were thinking maybe there is another way that we could help. We went to watch her ride and here is someone who is basically in a wheelchair most of the time, and then she walks with help over to the horse, and she gets on the horse, and all of a sudden there is this sense of freedom in the way she uses her body. We both ended up with tears in our eyes. And so we said we would love to be part of this team and see if she can fulfill yet another dream. Go for gold, right?”
Collier believes this inclusion is a big step in not only the equestrian world, but also in the world of sports. “It’s always been something way bigger than just myself,” she said. “I want to redefine the negative perceptions to come with having a disability and with being different. I want to show people that anything is possible if you try hard enough; It’s all about that reframing it in your mind to a more positive mindset. I don’t want to just inspire other people; I want to move past that inspiration and to bring some action to it. I want to turn that inspiration to motivation so that they feel motivated enough to strive towards their own goals.”
For more information on Sydney Collier, visit https://www.sydsparaquest.com/ and follow her on Instagram.
