Katie Umback first started competing in equestrian as a five-year-old in pony club, having grown up watching her dad break and train pacers. Dressage followed soon after and she was heavily involved in eventing for several years until breaking one of the vertebrae in her neck on a cross-country course at 18.
From then on, Katie’s focus was on dressage and agricultural shows, showing horses professionally at a national level. Around this time she was also breaking, re-educating and training horses, and teaching people to ride.
When Katie was 32 she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and told that she would lose the ability to walk and would never ride again.
Following years of chemotherapy and several rounds of autoimmune medication, she decided to start riding horses again, but having lost around 70% of feeling in her body, it took months of riding at a walk to find her balance …
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Katie Umback first started competing in equestrian as a five-year-old in pony club, having grown up watching her dad break and train pacers. Dressage followed soon after and she was heavily involved in eventing for several years until breaking one of the vertebrae in her neck on a cross-country course at 18.
From then on, Katie’s focus was on dressage and agricultural shows, showing horses professionally at a national level. Around this time she was also breaking, re-educating and training horses, and teaching people to ride.
When Katie was 32 she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and told that she would lose the ability to walk and would never ride again.
Following years of chemotherapy and several rounds of autoimmune medication, she decided to start riding horses again, but having lost around 70% of feeling in her body, it took months of riding at a walk to find her balance again.
Having decided to begin competing in Para-dressage, in 2013 Katie imported three-year-old Marquis from Australian dressage rider Tristan Tucker.
In the six months leading up to her Paralympic debut, Katie relocated to Holland where Tristan was based to compete on the European circuit.
At the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Katie competed in two events, placing 12th in the mixed dressage individual championship and ninth in the team open with teammates Emma Booth, Sharon Jarvis and Lisa Martin.
Katie rides anywhere between four and five days a week on top of cardio training, Pilates and physiotherapy.
Before competing, she likes to plait her horse’s mane in odd numbers for luck.
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