Competing in show jumping is no easy sport in itself… let alone doing it blind. However, this is no impossible task for Wren Blae Zimmerman. Wren Blae Zimmerman is a legally blind show jumper based in Lexington, KY. At 17 years old, Wren was diagnosed with a rare incurable eye disease called Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy, which is a rare eye condition that is progressive degenerative, contributing to her blindness. Roughly 90% of people who are blind have some sort of usable vision. In Wren’s case, her central vision is totally blank, and her peripheral vision is incredibly blurry.
Wren always had a passion for horses, ever since she was little. She would beg her parents for riding lessons, but due to financial constraints and safety concerns, she didn’t get the opportunity to ride growing up. It wasn’t until after she lost her eyesight and graduated from college, Wren started riding at a therapeutic riding center in exchange for helping them with the program. During her time riding at the therapeutic riding center, Wren had told her instructor that she would like to jump. However, her instructor didn’t think this was practical since Wren was blind. After Wren was told this, she looked at it as a challenge accepted.
Wren now has a horse, Valentine and currently resides in Lexington, KY. I asked Wren some questions so we could learn more of her story.
Q: How and when did you become involved with horses?
A: "For as far back as I can remember, I've always loved horses and begged parents for riding lessions. Due to financial contraints and safety concerns, I didn't get the opportunity to ride growing up. After college, I started riding at a therapeutic riding center in exchange for helping with program."
Q: What are some interesting stories about your horse?
A: "I have Valentine to thank for the rider I am today and I like to call him my 'seeing-eye-horse'. While Valentine is an 'ex-Grand Prix horse' I am able to put almost anyone on him and trust him. When I first got him 4 years ago, he was sitting in a field as he had been sent back from lease by multiple people. At our first show, he wouldn't even go down the path to the warm up arena. Come to find out, he had some serious traffic problems as a result of a bad accident along with other issues such as PTSD, and a general mistrust of humans.
For the first few shows, I would literally have to warm up, walk, trot, and canter on a back path at the Kentucky Horse Park and then go straight into the show ring without ever going over a jump. While he still spooks from time to time at loud noises or fast movements on the ground, and sometimes still throws his head and gets a little hoppy on his front end when a horse canters at him head-on, this is a huge improvement from the 'spin-and-bolt' he used to do once we were able to get him into the warm-up arena at shows."
Q: What do you enjoy most about showjumping?
A: "When you have a disability, there are a lot of things you can't do. In my case, I can't drive, or do things like go to the store or run errands by myself; I can't make out details or read most things, both close-up and far away (signs, menus, labels, packaging, etc.), I can't see facial expressions, who people are, or sometimes if there is even a person at all. My disability affects almost every aspect of my life, down to the most mundane tasks. But with show jumping, as soon as I get on the horse's back, he lends me his eyes. I can do things that I wouldn't otherwise be able to do on my own because of my blindness. So, for me, it's like freedom from the disability.
Photo by Taylor Pence
None of us can fly without the assistance of a 'vehicle' like and airplane or a horse. Horses make it possible for us to be able to do things that our bodies phsyically can't do on their own. It's an incredibly special and humbling experience to be able to have that kind of connection with an animal, especially one that allows us to sit on their back. The fact that they not only willingly do what we ask, but try their hearts out for us, even when we point them at these big jumps, it's truly remarkable. For me, there's nothing that compares to that partnership and trust you have with your horse when jumping."
Q: What would you say is most difficult about being a blind equestrian?
A: "One of the main things is the loss of independence. As a visually impaired person, I can't drive. I was able to drive for one year when I was 17 after I got my license, and my disease is progressive degenerative, so it gets worse over time. I had to stop driving at night and then all together. As an adult, I don't have that independence of being able to leave the house and go to places like the grocery store or barn on my own.
If my horse needs something- if he's out of supplements or if there is an emergency, I cannot get to him without the help of someone else. When you buy a horse and assume responsibility for it, I take that commitment very seriously. Despite knowing my lack of independence and resulting inability to do something or get to somewhere, isn't my fault, it's incredibly frustrating and often quite taxing.
When show jumping, I do a lot of memorizing and I create a mental map when I am walking around with an aid on the ground to learn my courses. So when I am in the saddle and riding the course, I know what stride length, speed, and track I must ride according to what I've memorized. I'm not able to see those distances so if I turn too early or if I don't have the right striding I need to move up or back off. I can feel the horse's feet leave the ground, but being able to accomodate or adjust to those distances I obviously can't see."
Photo by Wren Blae Zimmerman
Q: Can you tell me about the para-showjumping movement and how you've played a part in it?
A: "I started riding at a therapeutic riding center because my parents didn't let me ride growing up both for financial reasons as well as safety reasons. I asked multiple trainers before I found someone who was willing to work with me because a lot of people don't feel comfortable working with someone that has a disability. I found a trainer that took me from never having jumped an entire course to competing at my first show. When I first started jumping, it was with a trainer back in Portland Oregon, where I was living at the time. I rode/competed on her horses. It wasn't until several years later, once I had moved to Lexington, KY that I got Valentine.
Also, I retired Valentine at the beginning of last summer; it ended up being a temporary/semi-retirement. While he is still permanently retired as my own competition horse- since he can't jump the height I need for competition anymore- I've since brought him back into work and he can still thrive doing small jumps.
I started doing some research online and found out that over in Europe multiple countries recognized para-showjumping and I was like okay, why don't we recognize that here in North America? I started doing more and more research from there and figured out that the process that those countries took was to do demonstrations and slowly push it forward to official recognition. I had been wanting to move to Kentucky and I knew the governing bodies were based in Lexington, so I knew if I had any chance of pushing this forward it would be in Lexington. My hope is that in the next year or two that USEF will recognize this sport, but in the meantime I'm in the process of setting up a nonprofit to support that movement."
Wren organized the first Para Show Jumping demonstrations in North America, and worked closely with the EEI (Equestrian Events Inc), which were held at the 2022 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, which was attended by a record 85,000+ spectators!
Q: What are your future goals and plans in the equine world?
A: "As for short term, for my personal goals I would love to move up to competing at the 1.20 meter level. When I got Valentine, he could jump at the height I needed so I bought him to be my 1.20 meter horse. About after a year of having him, he had an injury that caused him to be on stall rest for nine months, and a total of about a year before he came back into work. After his injury, we were able to do our first 1.15 meter class. We weren't able to get to the 1.20 meter levels because of his age, so we are taking a step back and he is not a show horse anymore.
So now my personal short term goals is to find a horse and moving up to competing at the 1.20 meter level. As for my long term goals, that is to be the first legally blind or visually impaired person to compete at the National Grand Prix level here in the U.S."
Wren continues to work towards her goal of setting up a nonprofit, Para Show Jumping North America, to continue progressing the para show jumping movement and establishing the sport. There is no doubt that Wren is making a difference in the equine community, especially in Lexington, KY. You can learn more about Wren at www.wrenblae.com.
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