February 2021 Issue

Page 20 February 2021 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN By Jennifer A. Sheffield Reading, PA native and United States’ para-equestrienne Margaret “Gigi” McIntosh, 65, could have accepted a stationary life when her career as a CCI4* eventer came to its calamitous halt. Instead, after just six weeks of rehabilitation at Good Shep- Margaret “Gigi” McIntosh (left), her daughter Charlotte McIntosh Tarr, and Rio Rio at the 2016 Paralympic Games in in Rio de Janei- ro, Brazil Photo credit: Missy Ransehousen Margaret “Gigi” McIntosh Won’t Let Retirement Take the Reins herd Rehab Hospital in Allen- town, PA and years of retraining, she rode to a spot on the 2016 U.S. Paralympic team. McIntosh was injured when she asked her talented young Irish horse named Scarva to take off early over an imposing ramp jump on their first Intermediate cross-country course and season debut at the 1999 Morven Park Spring Horse Trials, held in Lees- burg, VA. When his hind legs got tangled on it, McIntosh hit the ground chin-first, breaking her sixth vertebra. Getting back on any horse meant that she and her future mounts had to deal with muscle spasticity after a diagnosis of incomplete quadriplegia. She is paralyzed from the chest down but can use her legs and arms with limited mobility. She said her growth as a rider with a disability was due to each horses’ willingness to help her, no matter what was asked of them. “The important part is how much the horses contribute,” she said. “Obviously they have to be copacetic to what’s going on in people and so my bonding went from actually training them to a lot of brushing,” said McIntosh. Of course her horsey friends also helped prop her up and give her a new path to success. “I was lucky that Jane Cory, with whom I shared many lessons with five- time Olympian, Bruce Davidson, ran a therapeutic riding program at the former Pleasant Hollow Farm in Coopersburg, PA. She had appropriate horses, plus just the right blend of caution, tact, and sensitivity to get me riding again, both without frustrating me or scaring my husband,” she said. After achieving what she didn’t think was possible as an able-bodied rider, and be- ing named an alternate for the 2018 World Equestrian Games, McIntosh decided it was time to work on making her back more comfortable, instead of com- peting. “He’s delighted that he doesn’t have to worry about me falling anymore,” she said gush- ing over her new-found family time with husband Brian, 80, and her four grandchildren during the COVID-19 quarantine. “I was competitive and was lucky to find a great way to chan- nel my drive, but I also learned that nothing is going to be the same. So the incentive, then and now, is to keep getting stronger rather than sitting at home and feeling sorry for myself,” she said. She still hopes to do some skiing this winter. Changing Course When McIntosh decided to compete again in 2010, she had already found Pan Am Silver Medalist Missy Ransehousen who has served as a coach to the U.S. Paralympic Team for over 18 years. At Blue Hill Farm in Unionville, PA, which Ransehou- sen runs with her mother, three- time Olympian Jessica, McIn- tosh was forced to slow down the mental and physical speed ingrained in her by eventing. Instead, she had to focus on the delicate movements of a Grade 1 Para Dressage test, which is ridden entirely at the walk. “When I went to ride with Missy in 2010, she changed everything," McIntosh said. “She tied my feet to the stirrups, and the stirrups to the girth. Having (Continued on page 26)