My EDS Awareness month story by Georgia Gardner

My name is Georgia Gardner, I’m 25 years old and I am lucky to live in Cornwall, UK but this also has the unfortunate affect of being quite isolated in regards to EDS care and Specialists.

I have ridden horses for 19 years and have always been mad about everything horses. I knew from a very young age that being in the saddle was the place for me, I fought every second to get there.

The main part of this story starts in November 2014 when I purchased my horse as a 14-year-old girl with a dream and what felt like the entire world against me.

Ever since I can remember I have been horse-mad. All I wanted to do was be around horses, ride horses, draw horses, watch horses on the TV, you name it. My dream was to be like the show jumpers on TV I’d watch jump all over the world in the FEI on these amazingly beautiful, athletic horses springing over massive fences like it was easy.

I began riding at a young age after relentlessly begging my parents to let me start at a local riding school, I have only taken one ‘break’ for 6 months following an accident on my old loan pony as a teenager. I couldn’t imagine my life without horses at this point.

Our story also has another major character who started this movement, a 2002 dark bay Sport Horse gelding by Bandmaster known as Junior.

Junior was intended to be nothing but a project horse to me as a way to keep me distracted from the mental health struggles I had dealt with through my teenage years, he wasn’t the kind of horse I was looking for in any sense of the word apart from the fact he was a gelding.

I was pressured into purchasing him in 2014 and felt that if I didn’t try to help this horse, no one else would. Being an empathetic person and relating a lot of my struggles in him as I suffered with severe chronic pain which we didn’t know what the cause was at the time and mental health struggles, I took on the challenge.

The thought of the fate that would meet him was enough to make me sick. He was way too big for me as a 5ft5 teenager weighing around 6 stone, the wrong type as I wanted a Welsh D, too ‘old’ for what I was looking for and knew nothing but hunting.

He had been left in a field and was only in light work for most of 2014 so he was unfit, scraggly and a bit rough around the edges but he had a certain charm that stole my heart despite everyone else on the yard being repulsed by him.

He wasn’t the traditionally ‘attractive’ type of horse with the big, strong topline and looks that were expected at this yard. He looked like a ‘runt’ compared to the other competition horses, I was mocked and laughed at for taking on Junior. But to me, he was everything. He was the most striking, gorgeous horse underneath just waiting to show the world who he really is.

Junior only really knew work at that time in his life. He was extremely nappy, would rear and fall back on top of me, stop dead in the road out of the blue for no rhyme or reason and just spin, rear, spin, rear… Quite frankly, he was a total nightmare and I was utterly over-horsed despite my years of riding all kinds of horses, all ages, types and experiences, nothing could prepare me for what was to come. I had been a breaking-in ‘dummy’ for ponies, stallions and other horses, riding an old point-to-point horse previously with a lot of previous trauma. So, I had a bit of experience with horses like Junior, however, he was completely shut down and in survival mode. Nothing was working.

We had our fair share of falls as I refused to give up on him believing that I could ‘fix’ him, including one in early 2015 when he fell back on top of me on the concrete of the livery yard I was on at the time as soon as my weight landed gently in the seat of the saddle. I knew it was going to take a lot of work to make sure this horse reached his full potential and to pull him out of the defensive, survival mindset he had fallen into due to previous trauma.

We gradually worked through his many issues, a combination of re-backing, treating for ulcers, teeth being done, saddle fitted and re-fitted, chiropractic treatments, physiotherapy and some good feed management to help his condition grow along with moving to a quieter livery yard for both of us to escape the ever common ‘toxicity’ to work on ourselves and building our partnership in alternative ways like natural horsemanship and liberty work. I spent a lot of time with Junior, I was going through my own battles on the sidelines with my mental health and Junior was a massive help. He allowed me to focus on something else instead of what was and had happened in my life.

We’ve done a lot of competing in the nine years we’ve been together as a partnership, the ‘project horse’ has never left me (don’t they all end up this way?) and has turned into a diamond in the rough with a lot of blood, sweat and many tears. We have competed in show jumping at unaffiliated and BSJA levels, dressage, hunter trials and showing classes locally. Rarely, we don’t come home with some sort of rosette or sash in tow which I never thought we would achieve knowing the horse I committed to back in 2014. I was told over and over he would never amount to anything, but he did. With time, compassion and a different training outlook.

Junior has taught me a lot of valuable life lessons, how to train horses differently and understand how their brains work. He also taught me a lot about myself, how I needed to slow down and breathe, life didn’t have to be so scary. I am so grateful that our paths crossed when they did.

In June 2023 I purchased my 2nd horse after a lot of looking and being let down.

Spud is a 2014 bred ex-racehorse by Mount Nelson and Darcique (Spud and Junior are related via Northern Dancer). He’s a leggy, handsome chap with incredibly big movements, a massive jump and a huge heart. However, he is very anxious and has had a difficult past full of lots of moving, inexperience, accidents and confidence knocks with his previous home. He had lived in Spain twice and had experienced the mistreatment which is unfortunately all too common and accepted in Spain. His previous home wasn’t ideal either which has caused a lot of mental issues with Spud and we’ve had to slowly unpick the stress and worry to reassure him life isn’t all that scary.

I had always said I wouldn’t own another off-the-track thoroughbred or a thoroughbred that had trained after the point-to-point horse I used to ride. I couldn’t face another horse so traumatised again. But despite me being quite an experienced rider I didn’t want to over-horse myself again and was just looking for something sensible to have fun on, but all of those plans went out the window when I saw Spud’s advert on Facebook.

I took the 5 1/2 hour drive to Heathrow to try him and then again the following week to pick him up and bring him back to Cornwall.

Much like Junior was, Spud is going to take a lot of work to get to his full potential and to break through his anxiety. However, I am very excited for him. He would run through fire for you, on each ride he tries his absolute hardest to understand what you are asking him, to please and work with you. Although Spud is 9 years old, he rides much like a 4 year old due to never being properly re-backed after his short career at the track, so we have a long road ahead of us. He has already progressed leaps and bounds since coming to Cornwall in June 2023.

But, sharing my competition results and photos isn’t why I started my Instagram in the first place. I started my Instagram, @bandmastertales, because of what life had in store for me which crept up on me quite rapidly. The name was inspired by Junior’s father and BSJA registered name, Bandmaster (his father) and a twist on tails (as in horse tail!) and tales, stories.

In 2022 I was diagnosed with EDS after a long battle to find out why I felt the way I do day to day. As a result of my EDS, I also suffer from POTS (Post Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) which makes me faint, dizzy, suffer from frequent heart palpitations and much more. As time has progressed this year I am now being tested for MCAS and Gastroparisis also.

In 2019 I was also diagnosed with severe Endometriosis which I have been a vocal advocate of spreading awareness since then. I started my Instagram to share my journey in hopes that someone who is also struggling with a disabling condition and/or mental health conditions can get some hope and inspiration to get on that horse, to jump that fence, to ride that class or even just to get up in the morning to try again.

But also, to raise awareness to these rare conditions that even some doctors haven’t heard of, this isn’t good enough. We need more research and to be heard!

I am a ambulatory mobility aid user as a result of my EDS and my boyfriend has a huge role in my life not only as my support but as an advocate. He has educated many people around him about EDS (family, friends and work colleagues!) and I know he is just as passionate about raising awareness for this condition as I am. He understands how debilitating it is but also, how strangely amazing it is at the same time. I have always been open with my journey and have always made an effort to show the good and the bad sides of my journey as we are never 100% perfect. We make mistakes, have bad days and things go wrong. Social media tends to be extremely filtered to be positive, but I think the negatives should also be shown to ensure we aren’t creating a false mentality that we have to always be perfect.

I’d love to make a change to the accessibility of competition venues, para-grading and also classes to make the sport more welcoming to disabled riders like myself. It’s something I am working on which was heavily mentioned in my recent article with Horse and Hound and the various other articles, blog posts, podcasts and features I have had the opportunity to be a part of. I have also worked with local events and mental health groups for riders.

I will continue to work hard and push to make my dreams a reality, no matter how tough things get! I am just a young adult from Cornwall. I am no one special to the outside eye, however I am determined to make a difference and to change this sport.

Georgia Abigail Gardner, Bandmaster II (Junior) and Roman Era (Spud).