Emma Carter
Riding SOLO
Age: 25
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 75 kg (but intending to be below 68 kg for the race)
Emma Carter. I grew up in Kenya, my mum is half Dutch, half South African and my dad is English, born in Uganda and raised in Kenya, so I have a bit of a mixed heritage. I have been based in the UK since 2019 while studying at vet school.
I have extensive varied experience from a very young age with both my own horses that we kept at home as well as horses that I’ve ridden for other people. Mainly ranging from eventing and showjumping at the top level in Kenya, classical horsemanship/dressage in Romania, to some polo, mounted archery, and mounted games. I love anything that involves horses, particularly if it involves some adrenaline. My passion is working and connecting with each horse as an individual. I love training horses, especially those that are considered to be difficult/dangerous as there’s no better feeling than creating a shared language and a bond built on mutual trust that develops through challenges. I owe a lot to many horses over the years as they have shaped me into the person that I am today through teaching me to trust, giving me the confidence to try new things and the ability to get up and carry on no matter what.
I think that horses teach you an entirely different way of seeing the world and communicating, by teaching you to listen when no words are spoken, which I think has helped me to feel at home in completely different environments with different languages and cultures.
When I saw the information about Pass of Tears it brought together several different dreams, and then added in the relationship building with the 2 horses, the challenge of navigating and being self sufficient in nature with a horse relying on you, and the competitive race aspect (I am quietly very competitive although the horse always comes first) with the added pressure of trying to win the race not just for yourself but for the owner and your two team members (the horses).
I feel most at home in the bush and the idea of spending time travelling through wild areas in Patagonia with a horse is exhilarating. Additionally, after finishing vet school I wanted to work with gauchos learning from their expertise or get a job in the riding safari industry before going on to work in sustainable agriculture and conservation with a possible focus on nomadic pastoral communities. However, as my next undertaking starts in April this race felt like a great opportunity to bring these things together in a short 3 month interim.
I am excited to face the physical and mental challenges that will be met during the race and I am looking forward to meeting the people and horses involved in this adventure.
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