By Violet Li
Para-equestrian Phoebe Roche is tacking up Smartie in the frigid Melbourne morning. She has trouble getting on the bridle, caused by a fall from 10 feet in the air two years ago that worsened the movement and dexterity in her right hand. Smartie, a 16-year-old Warmblood, is getting grumpy and quietly not cooperating because he knows well that getting his bridle on means working soon.
But Phoebe has her way and pulls everything together. The 28-year-old Tooradin resident is training every other day to compete at the 2024 Virtus Open European Equestrian Championships in the United Kingdom in the coming July. The championship advocates elite sports for athletes with intellectual impairment.
Phoebe, a FEI Grade IV Para-rider, is one of the eight riders selected to represent Australia in this dressage competition.
England is awaiting, while the competition costs intercept the dream midway. The family is crying out for the support of the community to make a dream come true.
“They (organisers) only told us up till recently. Phoebe got this letter that says she’s been selected to go to compete. And then they said you need $15,000 for her carer and groom,” Phoebe’s mother Shaneen Roche said.
“Phoebe said you’re not excited? And I said, oh, no, but I don’t have $15,000.”
To scrape together the money pool, Shaneen has put her car on the market and she’s organising sausage sizzles and garage sales in the coming weeks.
“We can’t even buy the air tickets. It’s about $7,000. We’re $1,000 short at this stage and the tickets keep on going up,” Shaneen said.
“It’s a huge amount of money because I’m a pensioner. Phoebe’s a pensioner. These things aren’t cheap.”
But the mother and the daughter are not easily giving up. They have come a long way before this shot, trading their hometown for Melbourne to access more opportunities in a more “horsey community”. Now it makes more sense for Phoebe to forge ahead.
Born in Queensland, Phoebe was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and Spastic Quadriplegia before her first birthday, which affected her movement for the rest of her life. She was later diagnosed with epilepsy and autism.
Horse riding was initially physiotherapy for little Phoebe, but her love for horses guided her into a competition pathway.
“When I was younger, I couldn’t always walk, so it was the freedom of being able to sit on something and go anywhere [that I like most about horse-riding], and then the trust they (horses) put in you,” Phoebe said.
In 2021, Phoebe was recognised as Victorian Para Equestrian of the Year and a year later, she also finished her certificate in Equine Vet Nursing.
Juggling the work with the equestrian was her commitment.
“It was a lot of hard work, a lot of driving, and a lot of commitment,” she said.
“I’d work and then I’d come over here (training arena) and ride or ride and then go over next door and work. I was studying, working two jobs and riding.
“It was a lot of late nights. I became very tired. It did juggle a lot, but I wanted to get it all done.
“When I set my mind to something, I get things going.”
2022 was tough on Phoebe. A week after her graduation, she fell from the horse and could not ride for almost two years.
“She went flying through the air and landed ahead. She had to learn to basically talk again,” Shaneen recalled.
“She just spent six months sitting on the couch at home not knowing who she was, what she was.
“The medical bills were huge. She’d go to rehab three times a week.
“She hasn’t been able to work since.”
England is no doubt a reboot for Phoebe after everything she went through. She will be the only Victorian representing Australia in the coming championships and she will not let the opportunity slip away.
For her, it’s always a matter of finding a way.
“I don’t have much movement or dexterity in my right hand, but I have the loop reins and two whips,” Phoebe said.
“I don’t have much strength in my legs, so the leg whips are to compensate for my leg weakness.
“I can’t hold and grip things well, so I hold the loops.
“It’s finding ways. If there’s a will, there’s a way, and never say never. You don’t know until you give it a go.”
When Phoebe was just starting years and years ago and she had a really grumpy horse, a coach told her to just move up to novice dressage instead of doing prelim dressage.
“I thought right, I want to do more than just novice dressage, so that was it,” Phoebe said.
“It’s a wonderful freedom sport if you don’t give up on your dream.
“Don’t let anyone tell you can’t. Many people along the line have told me I can’t do something, but I’m still here proving them wrong.”
To support Phoebe, visit: asf.org.au/projects/phoebe-roche/phoebe-roche-virtus-european-championships
Shaneen and Phoebe are also holding a sausage sizzle on Sunday 23 June from 12pm to 5pm at Tooradin Estate.
