84 SIDELINES JANUARY 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Diane Kastama driving her horse
Rupert with navigator Drew Callahan
through a hazard on the marathon
course at the Grass Ridge CDE.
Photo by Pat Kastama
Diane Kastama driving
her horse Rupert with
groom Phylliss Rumley
on the dressage course
at the Grass Ridge CDE.
Photo by Pat Kastama
the para-driving sport saved her life and made it possible to reach
her goals. Stefanie is now on her way to an international ranking
with hopes to qualify for the 2014 U.S Para-Driving Team.
Experienced driver, high performance para-equestrian
committee member and 11-time U.S. Chef d’Equipe of the driving
team Hardy Zantke has become a strong leader for para-driving.
He explains the current obstacles for the sport. “There are too few
active athletes and too little financial support. The 2012 calendar
year was the first time that para-driving received a small amount
of funding from the USEF, but not for horse transportation.
Despite having brought home medals from almost every world
championship we attended, we have still never received support
from USET. All of our vast expenses in 2012 had to be covered by
private fundraising or personally by our athletes.”
Para-Driving expenses to travel overseas include not only the
horse transportation costs and rider costs, but transportation
costs for carriages, tack, show fees, assistants, fees for ground
transportation such as golf carts or scooters for drivers that can’t
walk, lodging fees for horse and rider and so much more.
Diane agrees, “There is a large financial demand for the sport.
There is also a need for quality horses for our athletes to drive,
compete and learn within the United States. The other challenge
is the limited number of driving competitions in the United States
making it rare for our para-equestrian athletes to compete head
to head. We already face the challenge that able-bodied driving
is a fringe equestrian sport in the U.S. - then we add drivers with
disabilities into this mix.”
Even with so many challenges to overcome, the U.S. para-
equestrian drivers are proving themselves year after year on the
international driving scene. Their success is due to support from
athletes, coaches, volunteers, able-bodied drivers, United States
Driving for the Disabled organization, the United States Para-
Equestrian Association and international private supporters.
Hardy Zantke concluded, “Hopefully we can increase our
financial support and get more equestrians like Diane and Stefanie
interested in actively competing in this sport. We would like to help
more para-drivers work their way up the competitive ranks at the
national level so they are ready for international competition - like
the future 2014 World Championship in England. We are thankful
to all the support we have and look forward to the future of this
discipline.”
To learn more about the United States Driving for the Disabled,
visit
.
About the writer: Lindsay McCall is a lifelong hunter/jumper rider originally from
Ohio. She is a talented photographer and makes it her career to advocate for the
equestrian sport, especially the para-equestrian discipline, through photography and
journalism. Lindsay and her family own and show many horses in multiple disciplines.
She enjoys spending her free time with her husband, horses and Labrador Retrievers
at her residence in Florida.
