She’s a stayer: jockey with MS ready to ride
THE first female jockey with multiple sclerosis has revealed her battle to stay in the saddle as she prepares to race at Goodwood.
A month after being diagnosed with MS last year, Olivia Kimber applied to take part in the Markel Magnolia Cup at the Qatar Goodwood Festival, an allfemale competition run for charity each year. In July, she will become the first female jockey in British history with an MS diagnosis.
“I might not be able to physically do this again, so I’ve got to do it now while I can,” the 26-year-old from Portsmouth said.
“It was a big shock for someone who’s completely fit and healthy.
“A lot of people when they do have a diagnosis like this give up a bit because it becomes difficult to push through.
But I can’t give up. For me there is a chance that my symptoms could potentially disable me in the future.”
Kimber thought the dizziness and numbness she felt at the end of last year were symptoms of a bad cold.
The ballet teacher was shocked to learn they were the first signs of MS, a lifelong condition affecting neurons in the brain and spinal cord, which can cause serious disability.
The condition has made her training particularly difficult. Fitness tests caused her body so much stress that her muscles spasmed and locked, and she had to be carried off gym equipment.
While galloping on a horse in March, her leg suddenly went numb as a result of Ms-induced nerve damage, causing her to lose all her strength in an instant.
“It was a very scary moment”, she said.
“Thankfully, I pulled the horse up
quite quickly and managed to get back to the yard… I could have just fallen off.”
Riding twice a week at the yard of racehorse trainer Eve Johnson Houghton outside Didcot, Oxfordshire, she also builds strength on the Equicizer and in the gym, but has to pace her training so she does not get too exhausted and trigger a flare-up of symptoms.
She also has to consider her day job. “I mainly teach ballet, so it’s quite intense on the legs,” she said. “When I’m teaching, my leg can feel weak and I’ll get that pins and needles feeling.”
Kimber was introduced to horse racing by her father. After his death, she and her brother purchased a race horse with their inheritance, but she had never jockeyed herself before training for the cup.
She is hoping to raise £1,000 for the Prince’s Trust initiative the Brilliant Breakfast, which helps young women to get into training and employment.
Kimber is one of the 12 “truly inspiring” competitors in the cup, according to Goodwood organisers.
Jon Barnett, racecourse director of Goodwood, said the race is “designed to break down barriers” that women face.