Elisabeth Halliday - Comeback of the US Olympic rider in para-dressage

Her first start at the Olympic Games was only a few days ago, when Elisabeth “Liz” Halliday (47) competed at the US Championships in Kentucky. She fell at obstacle 21. Nothing happened to her horse, but she suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. Fortunately for her, one of the obstacle judges was a surgical nurse in real life. She immediately called the hospital’s emergency room and instructed them to prepare the operating theater. This meant that Liz Halliday could be helped in the shortest possible time.

The operation was successful. But that was just the beginning of a long journey on which the former world-class rider first had to learn to control her muscles again, to stand, to walk and finally to speak.

Meanwhile, her top horses were given to Halliday’s fellow riders, the two top horses Cooley Nutcracker, with whom she competed in Paris, and Miks Master C to Boyd Martin, and two others to Will Coleman. In total, Halliday had around 20 horses in training at her stables in Kentucky. The majority of them were looked after by her team.

Homecoming

One year after the accident, Liz Halliday was still in rehabilitation. As the left side of her brain was affected, the function of the right side of her body was impaired. She had to learn to write with her left. But speaking was still difficult for her, as she reported on her Facebook page at the time. Big ray of hope: She sat on a horse again for the first time and from then on was able to ride every week at a local riding school near the rehab center in Dallas. She was already able to walk and trot.

A quarter of a year after she reported on her first attempts at riding, she then shared perhaps the best news since her accident: after 16 months in hospitals and rehab centers, she was able to return home to her farm in Kentucky just in time for Christmas. “It’s hard to describe all the emotions you go through when you walk through the door of your own home for the first time in so long,” she wrote at the time.

Comeback in para-dressage

Things got even better at Easter this year. Liz Halliday reported that she was riding again at home. An old acquaintance who is now back in her stable: the now 18-year-old KWPN gelding Deniro Z, who she had trained herself and with whom she was able to finish the five-star events in Kentucky, Burghley and Luhmühlen. “Riding him again was my highlight of the year,” said Halliday. “Having him back with me gives a bit of normality back to my life.”

Another important event was a trip to Florida, step one on the way to returning to competitive sport. Although she can ride again, she still has physical limitations. That is why she will be competing in para-dressage and her grade was determined in Florida. “I am proud to say that I am now officially an FEI Grade 2 para-dressage rider!” she reported. “The FEI Grade 2 tests are mainly ridden in walk and trot. (…) The exercises are long and quite complex. I’ve started practicing the exercises at home in anticipation of competing again this year.”

She also spoke to other para-dressage riders. “It felt great to be back with top athletes who live with the same challenges as I do,” she says. “We all know a lot more about the great sport of para-dressage now and are ready to dive in. It’s an exciting new direction in my career and I’m so looking forward to riding competitively again. Things are looking up!”