Rebecca Allum and her horse Bill at the dressage competition where she won third and second placings.
Rebecca Allum and her horse Bill at the dressage competition where she won third and second placings.
February 6 will mark the fifth anniversary of the day that changed Rebecca Allum’s life.
That was the day that one of her horses “threw a buck”.
“I was riding just out there,” she says, “and she got me off.”
Four weeks earlier, Rebecca had fallen from a horse at the Kaiaua Beach Races at Tolaga Bay, suffering a concussion.
When she fell for a second time, “I tucked my head under because I didn’t want to get another concussion, because I was only four weeks out from the other one, so broke my neck in three places.”
Now a tetraplegic, nothing, it seems, will stop Rebecca from living her life. She says at no point did she believe she would never ride again.
Rebecca can often be found astride a horse, with walkers on either side, at Wake Field Equestrian, just outside Te Puke, working with professional horse trainer Hayley-Grace Davis. Rebecca tries to get to Wake Field at least once a week.
“Initially, I went to Hayley-Grace because I had a young horse that was an irrationally spontaneous purchase that I shouldn’t have made, and she was trying to help me out with her.”
While the horse was eventually sold, it was the start of their working together.
“I’ve been taking my other two [horses] out to her because she’s just so good. She believes in me and wants to encourage me to ride, which is really, really nice because a lot of people don’t. She’s built a ramp for me to get up on her property, and she is just so encouraging.”
While Hayley-Grace schools the horses, a physio, Maddie Taylor, keeps an eye on Rebecca.
“So Hayley-Grace watches the horse, Maddy watches me, and we try to put it all together, which is cool.”
Rebecca riding at Wake Field Equestrian Centre on Te Matai Rd with partner Nigel Wallace.
Even with that input, Rebecca says if it hadn’t been for her expertise and experience, she would not be able to ride now.
Then there is her determination.
“It might just be my mindset, but never, ever did I ever think I wouldn’t walk again, even though I was told I wouldn’t, and I was told I’d always have a catheter, and I was told I would always be in a wheelchair. But I never believed them, I don’t know why, and there was no way I was not going to get on a horse.”
Nevertheless, it was a year-and-a-half after her accident before Rebecca could get back to riding.
She needs a ramp and help, usually from her partner, Nigel Wallace.
“Nigel helps me swing my leg over and then I can hold the reins, but my hands tend to lock on. I can’t use my legs so much, so I’ve trained my showjumper in voice command, so I use my seat and my voice to ride. She says the reins are now there “to look fancy”.
“It’s a big change, and all I can do is walk and trot - so, gone are the days of jumping and cantering. But when I am on the back of a horse I forget about my injury. I’ve got nerve damage, so I’m in constant pain, but when I’m on the back of a horse, I’m in the moment and nothing else matters.”
She also has a couple of other helpers who catch the horses and get them ready.
“I always make it clear this is my choice. If I get on a horse, then it’s my choice - you are not responsible if something happens to me.”
Although she can no longer showjump, Rebecca can compete in para-dressage, with side walkers “just in case”.
“The first show was a failure. I took my showjumper out, and he’s very forward - he doesn’t know to go slow. They were dismantling an arena and he got a fright, and I had to do an emergency dismount.”
The second show was an improvement and Rebecca did two tests, taking second and a third placings.
“At the end of my second test - because everybody knew he was so feisty and riding him was probably a tad risky in my condition - but at the end of the second show, I was so pleased, and everybody started clapping really loudly, and he bolted and I came off.”
Rebecca Allum on the ramp she needs to get on her horses.
The injury this time was no more than a sore shoulder.
“I’ve got a lot of friends who are saying, ‘You shouldn’t be doing it’, but it’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.
“I’ve got a lot of tetraplegic friends and we all have suicidal moments, so I think if you’ve got something that gets you out of bed in the morning and it puts a smile on your face - there’s nothing like it.”
It may be a long way off, but Rebecca says she would like to compete at the Paralympics, possibly in Brisbane in 2032.
“That would be awesome. It depends how quickly I age, but that would be the ultimate.”
Rebecca was conscious immediately after her accident, and knew straight away it was a serious injury.
“Luckily a medic was driving past and saw it happen and she said to her partner, ‘I think we’d better turn around and check that she’s okay’.
Rebecca was helicoptered to Middlemore Hospital, where she stayed for three weeks before being moved to the Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit, where she spent seven weeks.
When she returned home, her house looked as though it had been turned into a hospital.
“I had two caregivers on 24/7, sleeping in the spare room, and they had to shower me, feed me, dress me, do everything.
“I couldn’t do anything - then I had a little toe that wiggled, and a finger that wiggled, and that gave me hope. And from there, everything changed.”
Rebecca is classified as an incomplete tetraplegic - which means she is slowly getting some movement back.
“I’ve been really lucky. A lot of people would say I’ve been really unlucky, but there’s always somebody worse off than you. I know people who are going to be flat on their back for the rest of their lives.
