Marita Hird (born 25 February 1971) is a Paralympic equestrian competitor from Australia. She won a bronze medal at the

2000 Sydney Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in the Mixed Dressage – Freestyle grade III event. 271000 - Equestrian Marita Hird action 4 - 3b - 2000 Sydney event photo

Personal

Hird was born in

Kew, Victoria Kew (;) is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 5 km east from Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara Local government areas of Victor ...

. She was a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

until 1993 when she fell from her horse during a race. Hird broke her neck in three places and was advised that she was an incomplete

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or t ...

. However, after nine months Hird learned to walk again and began riding horses as a form of therapy.

Sporting career

After being encouraged to compete in dressage, Hird won bronze at the World Championships in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. She went on to win bronze in the Mixed Dressage - Freestyle grade III event at the

2000 Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Hird also represented Australia at the

2004 Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

where she just missed out on a medal. At the 2006 Pacific Rim Championships, held in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Hird won three silver medals. She credits some of her success to Manolo Mendez, who gave her guidance.

References

External links

* 1971 births Living people Australian female equestrians Paralympic equestrians for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in equestrian Equestrians at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics People from Kew, Victoria Sportspeople from Melbourne Sportswomen from Victoria (state) {{Australia-equestrian-bio-stub