In this blog, I have shared my views, opinions, thoughts and experiences as a women. So far, I have not mentioned that I am partially sighted. Why? Because it has never been something that I liked to talk about, it never seemed important enough to share. I changed my mind and decided to be more open and tell people how being visually impaired has not prevented me from living an almost normal life

I was born with a rare disorder called “Congenital Achromatopsia” (click on the word if you want to know what it is )
In short : “Persons with achromatopsia are either totally colorblind or almost totally colorblind, and they have poor visual acuity. – As levels of illumination increase, the vision of persons with achromatopsia decreases. In moderately bright indoor spaces or outdoors just after dawn or just before dusk, some achromats adapt to their reduced level of visual functioning without resorting to tinted lenses, by using visual strategies such as blinking, squinting, shielding their eyes, or positioning themselves favorably in relation to light sources. Others routinely wear medium tinted lenses in such settings. However, in full sunlight outdoors or in very bright indoor spaces, almost all achromats use very dark tinted lenses in order to function with a reasonable amount of vision, since their retinas do not possess the photoreceptors needed for seeing well in such settings.”

So, during daytime, I always wear dark sunglasses, eventually combined with dark tinted lenses. I have trouble recognizing people or finding my way in places I’m not familiar with. Also reading small text, looking television or crossing a street is difficult for me.

However, being independent and “just like anybody else” has always been a very important issue for me. So, I wanted to ride a bike and climb in trees and find my way around town … and, because my brothers and sisters were doing show-jumping I wanted to do show-jumping as well … And I did, when I was 14 years old I was jumping around the arena. Can you imagine how proud I was ? Even though I sometimes jumped the fences in the wrong order because I wasn’t able to read the numbers beside …
Unfortunately, not having a coach at the time I got discouraged by the lack of long-term perspective and stopped doing what I loved.

Until in 1996, my husband Ronny convinced me to get in the saddle again. I still remember the joy I felt when I was galloping once more ! Soon after that we began our journey learning about Natural Horsemanship and communicating with horses. We took lessons, attended workshops and demonstrations, we read every book on this subject and soon found ourselves in the round pen with our first horse, Chexy.

Me and Chexy

Today, we have 8 horses here on our farm in the south of France. We teach and support people who want to improve their horsemanship-skills. And I wonder : “What is it that connects me with these beautiful creatures ? How can it be that I’ve been around horses for so long and never had any serious accidents ? How do me and my horse get down from a steep slope tacking over fallen trees ? Why would young horses trust me to lay a saddle on their back ?”

Right, it’s about trust and confidence. The horse doesn’t “know” that I have bad eyesight. But by communicating correctly I can establish confidence and so the horse “knows” I am not afraid and I trust him.
And of course, this is not about taming wild horses or dangerous stallions … I leave that to my husband.

I realize now that the most important thing for me in life is “togetherness”. Sharing and supporting one another and acting as a complementary team. That is what I can learn and share with people.
“Nobody is perfect” is an old cliché often used as an excuse for not doing things well. In fact we are perfect, not as individuals but as a group !

Well, if it takes a visual handicap to teach me that … what the hell, I am grateful for it !