An Amazing Story...

Monty Becker
Stroke Survivors Tattler

What a marvelous story for horse lovers and an inspiration  for others... to think of the courage and determination.... yet we complain about trivialities in our lives! Wow, and to think of the small things I complain about! This woman is a treasure and so is her horse. 





The determined Bettina Eistel and her very special horse, Fabuleax 5.  I saw this photo today and it took a minute for my brain to register what I was seeing.

Look closely... No arms. What is even more compelling than the fact that she can brush her horse with her feet, is that she competes, very well, at the Paralympics in dressage. Bettina didn't just overcome her disability, she walloped it!  (Kinda makes me feel ridiculous for complaining about anything).





Cantering WHY NO ARMS? Thalidomide. Anyway, she was born in 1961 in Germany, with no arms due to the drug, Thalidomide.







Her Book -- What is Thalidomide? Thalidomide was a drug they gave pregnant women before it was known that it caused birth defects  Hence, Bettina was born without any arms.

Saddling -- Bettina doesn't let her disability stop her.  After all, this way of being is all she has ever known









Bridling -- look at him drop his head. Anyway, as a small child, Bettina learned how to use her feet and toes as her hands and fingers.  As a youngster, she started in horse riding lessons.  She wears riding boots with cut-outs in the toes so she can have hands (imagine how cold her toes must get and how often they clip a branch or a fence board ouch!).  She can saddle, bridle, hose down, wrap, blanket and do just about anything else that is needed for her horse.

And, she rides by steering with her legs and holding the reins in her mouth. IN HER MOUTH.  Amazing. Oh, and besides all those horse riding feats, she can text, write and put on mascara with her toes!

They say Bettina is a master at hose water fights! After high-school in 1979, Bettina studied the History of Art, Archaeology and Ethnology in Hamburg, followed by an eight-year study of psychology. During her psychology studies, she  participated in a project with Hamburgs home for children. In 1989 she completed her studies with a diploma and has since worked as a graduate psychologist in a Hamburg counseling center for children and family therapy.

Paralympics -- I really couldn't find much information on her coaching (Her coach Franz-Martin Stankus) or how she learned to ride.  But, I did find out that:  Eistel was formerly Vice-European and Vice World Champion (two silver and bronze at the European Championships in Portugal in 2002 and three silver at the World Championships in Belgium in 2003) and won two silver and one bronze medal at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.  She also won the German National Championship three times.  Her most recent successes are the bronze medal in the required tasks of the individual competition and the silver medal in the team standings at the 2008 Paralympics in Hong Kong.



With Her Dressage Medal & Her Horse -- You have to really think about the kind of horse who would let this kind of a rider be his partner.  Really what temperament is needed to perform at high level dressage as well as take care of a disabled rider? I wish I knew if they looked high and low for him or if they simply trained a good horse to understand this rider?I often hear that certain horses are much more gracious with disabled riders than with regular riders.







Taking a Treat from Mom -- Bettina says she trained her horse via voice commands, head movement and leg aids.  Funny, I bet hardly any of us would think it was even possible to ride a horse without arms.  Fabuleax lets Bettina ride him in the only way she can with the reins in her teeth and the other set of reins between her toes.  Also - as you'll see in the photos, he lowers his head to be bridled and to be brushed.  What a gentleman!










Beautiful Boy -- TELEVISION HOST Bettina has also landed a gig as a Talk Show Host.  With a weekly show on German TV station ZDF, Bettina is something of a media star.They say her popularity is because of her engaging and optimistic personality but one cannot ignore her amazing ability to do everything, literally everything, with her feet...











Bettina as talk show host -- AFTERTHOUGHT I wanted to bring this story to you because I think sometimes we give up too easily. I cannot even imagine folding the laundry with my feet, let alone living 24 hours without my hands.  Wow... Very inspirational. What a great team!