What does it feel like to win an individual Olympic gold medal? No, better still – to win two? A person who can answer this question is Philippa Johnson, who has done just that on her horse, Benedict in the individual dressage championships as well as the Musical Kur at the 2008 Paralympics in Hong Kong.

SA Horseman visited Philippa at her father's house in Rivonia on her visit to South Africa shortly after her victory in Hong Kong.

Philippa comes from a horsey family of show jumpers. Horses have been part of her life for as long as she can remember and her father, Arthur Johnson, started teaching her to ride at the age of four. Even though show jumping was the family tradition, and all the boys in the family followed in that line, Philippa's first love was always dressage.

Tragedy and drive

But in 1998 disaster struck. Philippa was involved in a car accident in which she lost both her brother and her boyfriend. She was paralysed down the right side of her body. "I was 23 at the time and something like that turns your world upside down, then made worse when every doctor you ask tells you: You will never ride again."

Nobody who has not been through something like that can ever appreciate the strength, drive and endurance that it must have taken for Philippa to live through that time and to determine that she would prove the whole of the medical profession wrong. And she did.

She managed to regain 60-70% of the use of her right leg, although not of her arm, which is still paralysed. Nevertheless, this did not deter her and with the unwavering love and support of her family, she set the goal posts even higher.

"I was blessed that my passion for riding ran so deep and that I come from seriously strong genes. The more they told me I wouldn't ride, the more I was going to prove them wrong. Never once, not even through the most difficult times, did it ever enter my mind to give up.

"To ride in the Olympics has been my dream for longer than I can remember, but my dream was only to represent my country. Never did I think I would ever have a chance to actually medal."

And she proceeded to do just that. In Athens in 2004, Philippa and Benedict obtained two individual silver medals and, four years later, she topped that with two golds in Hong Kong.

In 2003 Philippa moved to Belgium, as that was where she had found her horse, Benedict. The plan was originally that she would remain there for one year to prepare for the Athens Olympics. However, plans have a way of changing and today Philippa is still in Belgium, living about an hour's drive outside Brussels.

Her trainer is Chris Haazen, whose wife was long-listed for the Dutch Olympic team. Initially Philippa battled to find a trainer due to her lack of money and her disability, but Chris agreed to give her one lesson to see if they clicked. And the rest, as they say, is history. Says Philippa, "It's wonderful to find a trainer, especially in Europe, who has no ego and trains horses for the right reasons. He loves horses and loves the sport."

About Hong Kong and gold

Although the Olympics were held in Beijing, China, the equestrian events were held in Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong in comparison to Athens was awesome. You can't compare them, but I can safely say I have never enjoyed facilities like the ones in Hong Kong. London has some seriously big shoes to fill. The competition was held at the Sha Tin racecourse in Hong Kong. We couldn't fly horses into Beijing as it has no veterinary controls, but of course Hong Kong has everything in place for the racing.

"The horses had a quarantine stopover in Aachen and then flew from Schipol airport in Amsterdam to Hong Kong – an 11-hour flight. One of our grooms, Karin Beytell, flew with the horses. The security both at the quarantine facility and in Hong Kong was first class."

Both Philippa's mom and dad – her two greatest supporters – were with her in Hong Kong. As he is with every international competition Philippa takes part in, dad Arthur was her groom, as she will not trust anyone else with Benedict.

Then came the competition. "The first gold was a mixed bag of reactions. The day before we had won the team test, Benedict was very spooky in the ring and I made the odd mistake, but as we rode out, Chris was very happy.

"The next night Benedict put all of his spark into his test and not into spooking. I know I messed up my second pirouette, but I was really pleased with the test. As I walked out Chris just stood there looking at me. I immediately felt like a child that had done something wrong and when my score came up, I thought: 'That's not enough to win'.

"So when we found out that I had actually won, it was amazingly exciting but I still had the feeling that we didn't really deserve it. That said, for the Kur night Benedict was so exceptional, that I can safely say that we earned every ounce of that gold medal!! And yes, Chris was super-excited when we walked out of the ring.

I was totally elated. I had hoped that gold would follow the two silvers, but there was a lot of doubt as the competition was so strong and we had quite a few grand prix horses in my class."

With all that said, the proof of the pudding was in the eating and grand prix horses or no grand prix horses, Philippa and Benedict did it and deserved all they got, and more! The pair had also won the team competition, but there was no individual medal awarded for that – so in fact her tally was three wins and two gold medals!

After the Games, dad Arthur was asked if he is proud of Philippa and he replied: "I am proud of her whole life!"

A horse called Benedict

And the horse on which she did it all? His name is Benedict. He is a 14-year-old chestnut Hanoverian gelding, whom she found rather "by accident" when South Africa sent its very first para-dressage team to ride in an international competition in Belgium. A young dealer, liking the way she rode, suggested that there was a young horse she should try out – Benedict.

"After riding him for just five minutes, I knew I was sitting on my Olympic horse!" Benedict carried her to two silvers in Athens and now to two golds in Hong Kong! Did he get any special reward or treats after winning?

"Winning the medals changed nothing in Benedict's life, as he was already the most spoiled horse in the world. But he is extraordinary – due to his character, no matter where we travel in the world, he always manages to gain a fan club and Hong Kong was no different!"

Difficulties

However, it has not been plain sailing all the way. As we all know, riding and keeping horses is very expensive. Doubly so if you are living and competing in Europe and having to pay for everything– living expenses, your horse's upkeep, training fees and competition fees in rand!

After the first two medals in Athens, she hoped that a sponsorship from a big South African company would be forthcoming to assist her in the build-up to the 2008 Games, but somehow that didn't materialise. Fortunately she did receive financial support from Sascoc (South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) in the year leading up to the Olympics.

Sanef also very kindly assisted in making sure that her trainer, Chris, would be joining her in Hong Kong, paying for his stay. Although Philippa is grateful for all this assistance, she still needs more. She only has the one horse, Benedict, which in top competition terms is extremely dangerous and if something had to happen to him, she would have nothing else to fall back on.

Not being a Belgian citizen, she is not allowed to work there, but she does teach and present clinics when she is in South Africa. She is nonetheless hopeful that now, after proving her worth for the second time in the Olympic arena, a sponsorship will be forthcoming.

Philippa is concerned, however, that in South Africa the lesser known sports, such as dressage, do not manage to attract the type of sponsorships needed to keep the athletes going. As a result, many of those athletes may be tempted to leave the country. Since her double gold, Philippa has already been approached by three other countries and if nothing is offered by corporate South Africa, she may eventually be forced to consider it.

Philippa not only competes in disabled competitions, but also on the international able-bodied circuit. In the beginning it was very difficult for her; made even more so by the fact that at first she was shunned and ignored by the other riders, because she was disabled.

Some riders and even judges lodged complaints against her because of her disability and it took almost a year for any of the other riders to start warming to her and to actually even speak to her. It just goes to show how people fear that which they don't understand!

Where to next?

Philippa's immediate plans are to qualify for the Aachen CHIO light tour in 2008. This is an able-bodied competition and is considered by many riders internationally as more important than the Olympics. It is the oldest international equestrian competition and some of the events have crowds of up to 60 000 people watching. It has a certain pomp and ceremony about it; people tend to get all dressed up for it – "A little like Ascot Races", says Philippa.

In fact, Philippa tells how, when they had the quarantine stopover in Aachen, she went to the Deutsche Bank Arena, where this competition is held. To her it was almost like stepping onto hallowed ground and she stood in awe in front of the gates, dreaming about riding there. In order to qualify, Philippa only needs to get 63% or above in two more Prix St George competitions. We know she can do it!

Prophetic words

As with any interview I do, I asked Philippa if she had any message for horse lovers and riders anywhere. And this is what she said: "Be in the sport for the right reasons. The moment you do it for any reason other than that you love the horses and the sport, walk away because you won't do yourself, the horse or the sport the justice it deserves. Never let anyone put limits on your dreams; remember it is not your aptitude, but your attitude which determines your altitude."