I Like Proving People Wrong

Para driver Chrissy Aitken, who competed at the 2023 FEI Para Driving World Championship for Singles and finished 10th overall, says horses have taught her confidence in her own abilities and brought her a feeling of freedom.

By Chrissy Aitken

My involvement with horses didn’t begin until my sophomore year of college. There was a four-pack riding lesson package donated to a pediatric burn survivor fundraiser that I was at, that was donated by a local riding stable, Maple Crest Farm in Brecksville, Ohio. Those four lessons turned into a continuance, and here we are today.

A little backstory: I was in a house fire at the age of five where I almost died. I grew up loving animals because they don’t judge based on looks or abilities. I’ve always had an inner drive to better myself and make the best of the situation I was given. My family background and financial situation were very limited. Unlike others, I didn’t come from a horse family. I rode for about a year and a half, then the instructor suggested I try driving, and we found that it was easier for me because I didn’t have to focus on balancing. I could focus more on driving and the horse, and not trying to hold myself up.

I practiced driving for maybe a year or so, and I started doing little schooling shows for about two years, and then I started doing more true combined driving events. With competitions, I enjoy that combined driving allows me to compete on a level playing field with the able-bodied drivers. Most of the shows we go to don’t have a para division, so I’m in the regular class with the able-bodied drivers. Sometimes in our sport, para driving is underrated or seen as an inconvenience to others. There are not a lot of para driving opportunities in the U.S. compared to other countries. It takes so much extra work and determination to drive and compete as a para driver than an able-bodied driver. We need extra help, and it takes a special horse to accommodate a driver’s limitations. Given the chance to compete, you will see that most of us can drive with the best able-bodied drivers. We just need more driving opportunities.

I enjoy the freedom that driving gives me. I’m not held back or limited by my disability, and when I’m in the seat with the reins, I’m like everybody else. I enjoy the camaraderie and the friendly rivalries I have developed over the past couple of years. Traveling to new places is fun, too, as I had never been out of the country until this year. With horses, I have learned confidence in my abilities. I’ve learned to be patient because things may not always go right the first time. I’ve learned to trust — trust in the horse’s ability and for the horse to trust me. And I’ve learned to be a more outgoing person. I’ve always been extremely shy. With horse shows and horses, that’s not allowed, especially to get the support I need to get where I am right now.

My first horse was given to me to compete and I now have my own horse. I had always borrowed horses before. He was the first horse who was actually mine, and I could do what I wanted without having to worry about somebody else using the horse. It was another driver who donated him to me, but she doesn’t want credit for it. I was in disbelief because every little girl dreams of having a horse or finding Prince Charming. His registered name is Prince Charming, so I found my Prince Charming, just not in the form of a man, but better.

“Prince” is a 17-year-old Hackney gelding who is 16.2 hands and is full of love. I have owned him for almost four years. He’s very easy going. I could do pretty much anything with him, and he would go with the flow. He has the biggest heart and always tries his best even when he’s not 100% sure about what I’m asking.

" I didn't come from a horse family"

It takes a special horse to be a para driving horse. They have to be patient and soft. I have limited movement to give to allow Prince to stretch, so he has adjusted to my driving abilities and continues on, even when I can’t regulate rein pressure. He is my unicorn. He is just magical with me and one of a kind. His younger years brought him some battle scars, and my younger years brought me my battle scars. We just understand each other.

Heading to the 2023 FEI Para Driving World Champion ship for Singles was very short notice. It was on the radar for future years. And then, in March, my trainers and I decided we’re going to go for this year. It was a couple of months trying to raise all the funds, get a horse in line, and figure out travel plans. I wanted to be able to be on the same team as my fellow para driver and mentor, Bob Giles. He’s been encouraging me since the beginning, and he is one of the main people who encouraged me to compete as a para driver. I remember seeing Bob at a derby at Grand Oaks Resort in Weirsdale, Fla., in 2018 or 2019, and he walked up and said, “Who are you, and why aren’t you out here driving?” I was still doing local shows back in Ohio, and I was on vacation in Florida for two weeks to see how it all worked. He had me walk the hazards with him and showed me how he would drive them and how a hazard actually worked. Then he said I should look into para, it kind of went on from there.

The ability to compete in combined driving — let alone in the world championship — was only possible financially through donations and support from many friends, fellow driving enthusiasts, and some strangers. It was only possible physically through the support of trainers, coaches, and friends —mainly Kristin Whittington, Stacey Giere, Tracey Morgan, Marcie Quist, and the donor of my horse, Prince Charming. For the world championship, I was in Europe for about five weeks. I leased a horse in the Netherlands named Gerritje — I called her “Gigi” — owned by Kim de Groot and Heidi Martens. It was a learning curve — new horse, new language. The horse was learning English at the same time as trying to learn my body movements. She was bigger than I’m used to, and I couldn’t really see over her head, so that was a little bit of a struggle. But it all worked out.

" I enjoy the freedom that driving gives me"

Leading into the world championship, I was looking forward to being considered as part of the U.S. team. Although I was technically an individual, it’s a huge accomplishment. Just overcoming my background, where I came from, overcoming the physical limitations, overcoming what doctors and society said I could and could not do, and overcoming the financial limitations means so much. I like proving people wrong. I feel like if you have a disability, society automatically has one view of you. I wasn’t supposed to live past 24 hours because of the severity of my injuries when I was five. I’m 34 now, so I’ve just continued to prove people wrong. Horses and competing make me happy. Growing up I was always told what I couldn’t do or what I wouldn’t ever achieve. I can drive horses and compete. It turns out I’m also good at it. It also allows me to be a role model for someone else in similar situations as myself.