KLIJN EVENTING

I grew up in West Wales where my Mum and Dad owned a small holding with a few stables and some land.  My Dad was a Carpenter and builder and my mum worked with horses.  It’s the love for horses that my mum has that got me into riding, not that I had a choice I was on ponies as a baby!  I used to sit in a saddle basket and hold the reins.  Over time I progressed from shetlands to ponies.  Mum couldn’t afford to buy me a nice ready-made pony so we usually got a naughty one to sort out, this where I really learnt how to ride!  Mum got her teaching qualifications and she soon started a little riding school.  I joined Pony Club and mum and I would go off together every weekend competing or attending rallies. 

​

At some point in my 13th year I was helping mum with her dressage outing for the riding club and I started to complain of being very very thirsty.  My eyes were blurry and I had to keep going for a wee.  The next day mum took me to the GP followed by the hospital where I was diagnosed with a lifechanging condition.  I had Type 1 Diabetes.  No one else in my family has or had it so I was just very unlucky.  The adjustment was traumatic.  Painful finger prick tests every hour and then injecting myself in the stomach.  I had to grow up quick… and I did!  I was really into my Tetrathlon (Shooting, swimming, running and riding) and I wanted to keep this going.  It was really hard.  I kept getting cramp in the swim phase and would often have to be fished out, but I wouldn’t give up even after the diabetes doctor said, “maybe you shouldn’t do it”!  Mum and I figured out that the doctors had me drinking a bottle of Lucozade before sport… my sugars would soar to 25 mmol/L (normal range 4-6 mmol/L) so I’d cramp up.  We then found another way to make sure I would not go hypoglycaemic (low blood sugar) and so my sporty lifestyle continued.  I ran cross county for Welsh Schools, qualified for the National Tetrathlon Championships and qualified for the Pony Club National Dressage Championships a couple of times.  My blood sugar control was not great throughout my teens but I kept trying and kept active. 

​

At the age of 17 I wanted to event.  There were a few problems in that we couldn’t afford a good horse (and when we could we got conned and bought a completely unsuitable horse) and we lived so far away from British Eventing events.  At 19 I bought a young cob cross to bring on as ‘ready-made’ horses were either broken or too expensive.  However, just as he was old enough to start doing more my world fell apart.  Mum and dad separated and filed for a divorce.  A year later mum went on holiday with a friend to Corfu and met a local guy there.  Ten months later she announced that she was going to move to Greece.  I was about to start my physio training in Bristol and about to loose my home and my mum at the same time.  Then the realisation I would also loose my horse.  I looked into options to keep him in Bristol but I would not be able to afford it.  Mum said she would take him with her mare to Greece.

​

I continued in Bristol lodging with a lady who allowed me to keep my cat, but without a horse. So, I took up pistol shooting.  Before I knew it I was shooting for Wales and heading off round Europe to various competitions.  The University were amazing at supporting me and I became a valued member of their Advanced Athlete Group, winning Advanced Athlete of the Year 2008. This award was not just about the sporting achievements, but it was about who promoted the university and reported regularly on training progress and competitions.  During this time, I was also diagnosed with Ceoliacs Disease, meaning I had to exclude wheat and gluten from my diet.  As a diabetic this makes eating slow release carbohydrate impossible!  I fought on. 

 

Following a disappointing drop from the Welsh team for the Commonwealth Games (New Delhi 2010) due to my lack of funds I gave up shooting and turned to triathlon.  This did not agree with my Diabetes – exercising with high sugars were causing a lot of damage to my body without me knowing! My blood sugars were all over the place.  I was a fully fledged physio by this time and had done three years in the NHS and made a leap into private practice.  My connections to triathlon did me very well in building my reputation and I soon felt confident in setting up my own clinic, and I did with one other physio.

Almost simultaneously, I fought for 8 months with the local diabetes team to allow me to have an insulin pump. I had a three-month diary of everything that I ate and drank, every activity and blood glucose reading to prove I was serious about getting an insulin pump.  They worry that some believe an insulin pump will do everything for them and will stop looking after themselves, which can be fatal.  Eventually, I was granted one and my HbA1c (average blood glucose) went from 10.1 to 7.8 in just three months.  BUT I was a too late.  I woke one September morning with a big black blob in my right eye.  A blood vessel had burst in the eye.  This was the start of three years of fortnightly trips to the Eye Hospital to prevent me going blind not only on my right eye but also my left.  I had to stop exercising during this time to avoid further damage to my eyes from the higher blood pressure. This was quite depressing.  In 2014 I needed to find a way back to horses so I asked around and managed to find something to ride a few times a week.  Later that year I was informed that I was likely to go blind in 5 years.  I decided that life is short and bought myself a horse - nine years since mum left. 

​

Milly was the best buy I had ever made, she is bred to event.  I bought her as a 5 year old, she is 16.2hh and 7/8 thoroughbred.  She has become my best friend.  With further news of my eyes needing invasive surgery I found a way to buy myself some transport so that Milly and I could start competing. Just two months later my right eye was operated on.  The jelly was removed, the membrane on my retina was scraped off and the outer rim of my retina was lasered (this is a form of amputation).  Following 6 weeks of rest (and no riding) the operation was deemed successful.  I had lost some peripheral vision, especially above and below.  I could now start riding again, but we only managed three months before my left eye had to have the same operation.  In this time I did manage to get a ride at Trebrough Hill BE90, it was amazing! 

​

The following year (2016) I was excited to get a full season of eventing in.  I had every intension of enjoying the time I had left with the sight that I had.  However, Milly became lame and we found ourselves at the local equine hospital trying to ascertain what was wrong.  She had ‘bone islands’ in her right fore and we were prescribed four months of box rest!  I was heartbroken, not only because we would not get to go out an enjoy ourselves but poor Milly would have to endure four months in a box, how cruel.  I was able to convince the vets that she would behave if I kept her in a barn with a small pen on the outside. Little is known about this condition, but most case studies reported that following prolonged rest they returned to full soundness.  End of August arrived, and we could finally start rehab, but it was another year of not eventing for us.  My eyes were settling nicely, and I was adjusting to the light sensitivity and loss of peripheral vision.  My night vision was appalling though! 

​

I finally got engaged to my wonderful boyfriend of 6 years.  He has been and is the only one who’s there for me through thick and thin.  I’m lucky to have him.  Wedding planning began along with planning my eventing season for 2017!  2017 arrived and apart form a cancellation of Howick due to ground conditions we got to event!  We went straight in at BE100 and managed 6 runs before the wedding in July.  Due to our lack of competing over the previous two years it was like taking a 5-year-old out! She was looking everywhere except where she was going, but we had fun making amazing memories.  I was grateful for every outing.  Post wedding didn’t go to plan when Milly threw 3 splints, 1 on each front and another on a hind!? At eight!? My vet reassured me that this is possible, and we just need to let them form.  Thankfully they did, and we managed just one last run at Broadway before the end of the season.  It felt like our best yet.

​

This winter has hit me hard for some reason and I developed anxiety and depression.  My diabetes really does not help, it literally has a mind of its own! I can do everything as usual and one day the blood sugars are okay and another they rocket for absolutely no reason!  During last year I was just about able to afford a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) which dramatically helped my control.  Its really hard to do a finger prick test on horseback at a competition!  Unfortunately, finances are tight and I can no longer afford a CGM and my blood glucose is reflecting that.  I have no option to plough on, I hate letting the diabetes getting in the way of my life and the things I want to do.