‘I HAVE 90% NERVE DAMAGE IN BOTH LEGS’

JULIE TEW’S BBC interview after her clear cross-country round at her first Burghley on Simply Sox left viewers weeping as she explained what she has overcome.

“I had a tumour removed from my spinal cord

18 years ago, and was told I would never ride again and would walk with a stick. The past five years have been really hard on me, and I thought about giving up a number of times as I couldn’t physically cope — I couldn’t understand why the more exercise I did, the worse it got,” she said.

“Then I found out I had 90% nerve damage in both my legs. The neurologist told me to give up riding. My parents have been so kind in allowing me just to ride two horses, and the less exercise I do the better.

“I owe so much to Sox — and he has chronic arthritis in both hind fetlocks, which has taken us time to work out how to manage, but he’s so bold and so generous.”