‘THE TRIUMPH WAS WORTH THE CHALLENGE’

Stephanie Quintrell, 32, lives in the East Midlands with her husband Jon, 40, and son Dylan, six.

Until July 2019, I was a busy mum, working in healthcare and spending any spare time I could riding my horse, Bubba. Then I was diagnosed with complex functional neurological disorder, which disrupts brain-body communication and causes chronic pain, among other debilitating symptoms. I had to give up my career, riding and driving, and I became a full-time wheelchair user.

It took time to adjust, but Bubba was my therapy. I’d often sit in the stables just to be near her. By May 2021, I felt ready to ride again. My husband, a sergeant in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, lifted me into the saddle and I had adapted reins to help me balance.

Around the same time, I came across Forces Wives Challenge (FWC), whose founder, Heather, was running ambitious adventures for the female partners of serving military personnel and veterans. A few months later, I proposed the idea of a challenge I could do: horse riding 130km across the Pyrenees along the remote passes of the World War Two Freedom Trail (Le Chemin de la Liberté) in France. And in June 2023, eight experienced riders, all military wives, set off. We crossed rivers, navigating steep ascents and treacherous sheer drops.

Reaching the end, the triumph was more than worth the challenges. I believe I am the first wheelchair user to horse ride across the Pyrenees. I’m now operations manager of FWC and, together with my team, we’ve proved inclusivity is possible, no matter what you want to achieve.

✱ Stephanie and the team raised more than £7,000 for The Armed Forces Equine Charity; forceswiveschallenge.org