Spaces - Stella Barton

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What makes a great space?

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And how does a space influence

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the way we live,

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who we interact with,

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and ultimately

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where we see ourselves in our communities?

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I'm Sam Drummond,

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and this is Spaces, on Powerd Media.

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Each episode,

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I'm taking our guests to their favorite place.

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We'll get an insight into

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why that space works for them,

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share some of the moments that have changed their lives,

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and hopefully learn something along the way.

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So we're sitting here

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at the Amazing Tooradin estate.

17

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It's just outside of Melbourne, and

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we're sitting here under a Ficofolia tree -

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that's one of the oldest that I've ever seen -

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right next to a horse,

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there's a barn over there that says:

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“Keep Yard Clean, Pick Up Manure”,

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and an old homestead that

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looks maybe 150 years old.

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And I'm here with the incredible

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Stella Barton.

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who has brought us here

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to talk about her favorite place.

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Thanks for bringing us here.

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Thanks for having me on your show.

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It’s great to be here.

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Yeah.

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Tell us why this is your favorite place.

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Well I’m a horse rider.

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I’m an internationally classified

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grade one rider,

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and this is the place where I come to train.

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My coach Sally Francis owns Tooradin Estate.

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It is so special to me because it’s very peaceful

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and I always feel very -

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when I get here, I get out of my car

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and it’s like ‘huh’, this is really calm.

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My horse, Disco, is here.

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So I agist  her here on the property.

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And she is very special to me.

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I bought her in 2020,

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or maybe 2021.

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I ride Disco but I also ride a lot of other horses.

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I feel that here. When we were driving here,

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there was a thick fog in Melbourne,

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And then just as we got here,

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the fog lifted to this beautiful day,

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and we drove into the car park,

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and your horse Disco

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was was right there to welcome us.

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Is Disco there every time,

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right there in the car park?

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Yeah.

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And he knew!

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Sorry, is Disco and boy or a girl?

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Girl.

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Okay. Sorry.

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She knew -

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she didn’t care about me -

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She came straight up to you once you’d got in your chair,

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and wanted to say hi.

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There’s some sort of special connection there.

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Yeah.

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she holds a very special place in my heart,

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I’ve had her just over three years now.

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Yeah,

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and if it was 2020 or 2021,

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you were getting Disco during the pandemic…

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Yeah.

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Was that, a deliberate thing,

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that you sort of needed an outlet

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during the pandemic?

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Kind of yeah. Yes and No.

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When I got her, and we-

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Actually came down here to do horse welfare-

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Because we all had an outlet in lockdown.

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Yeah.

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Did you get to come here

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during lockdowns,

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or that wasn't allowed?

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Well it was horse welfare.

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I also competed on her-

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last year and the year before.

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We went out a few times-

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and we had a great time out at comps.

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She’s definitely got me part of the way,

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and I don’t think I’d be where I am today

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without having been with her.

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Do you remember the first time

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you got on a horse?

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No.

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No!

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How did you get involved then?

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I started riding when I was

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I was seven,

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with Riding for the Disabled, or “RDA”,

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and my mum was looking

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for things for me to do

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that was beneficial for my disability but also fun

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and engaging, so I started with RDA in South Melbourne,

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at the police barracks,

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and I rode there for a few years.

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And then they moved to Collingwood Children's Farm

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And I was riding there for a few years.

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 And then one day,

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my mum picked me up from school

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to go riding,

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and I wasn’t very enthusiastic.

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I was getting a bit bored because it was just not what I needed anymore.

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But mum sort of convinced me to-

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go one more time and say goodbye to everyone there,

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So we went and I got on,

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and there was a woman there doing a little bit of training,

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this woman Mary Lodgen said 'What we’re doing here?'

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'You should be training for the Paralympics. You should be training with Sally Francis'

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So, you're about to give it up.

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you were one, sort of a moment away

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from just saying goodbye to horses forever.

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And then,

125

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and then sort of one -

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it sounds like one interaction

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changed the course of your life.

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Yeah, it really did.

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And Mary set me up with Sally and I’ve never looked back.

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So let's fast forward to now,

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you’re looking

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to go to Paris later this year,

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and hoping to get on the Australian

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Paralympic team in equestrian.

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What point did you realize that maybe,

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you were a Paralympian

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and you could represent your country?

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Well it’s always been a bit of a dream of mine.

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Then last year I went over to England,

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and I competed at a place called Hartpury

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over there and there were-

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three riders from Australia who went including me,

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and that was a really great experience.

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Yeah.

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The Australian team were all on borrowed horses,

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So we had to borrow a horse.

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So I had two weeks on a horse I’d never met before.

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But it felt good.

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So I don't know a lot about horses,

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but Disco over there obviously knows you.

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Is it harder to ride a horse

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that you've never met before?

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It can be, yeah.

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But mostly, I imagine, these horses

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seem pretty well trained -

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Yeah.

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They're not wild horses,

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they sort of know what to do,

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is that right?

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Yeah.

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Have you ever had a fall?

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I have.

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My first horse I ever owned

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Threw me off and-

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Yeah.

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it really wracked my confidence.

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Yeah, I can imagine.

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And I was riding somewhere else at the time.

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And after that I came back to Sally,

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and it took a long time to get my confidence back.

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And Sally was amazing because she really got me back.

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Your confidence is back now.

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Yeah.

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What's the pathway

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to the Paralympics and Paris?

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Do you think you'll get there?

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I am riding a horse that is

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based in WA.

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But he's living in NSW at the moment.

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I’ve had three qualifiers.

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I’ve got one more to go in June.

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And then after that, they’ll announce the Australian team.

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Do you know the people who you're competing against?

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I do.

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The Para community is really great.

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And even though we're all competing against each other,

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we’re all great friends. And it's great

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To find that community and I think that's so important,

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For anyone, but as a disabled person,

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it’s so important to have that community,

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and it’s really good in para equestrian.

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You've formed connections

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with the disability community for...

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forever, it seems,

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you were one of the few speakers at

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Stella Young’s memorial.

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How has that shaped

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your view of disability,

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knowing a lot of the prominent activists

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from a very early age,

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in what ways is that shaped

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your thinking about disability?

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My mum always worked in disability herself

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and I grew up with a lot of disabled people.

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Stella Young used to be in my house a lot growing up.

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I really grew up around, surround by conversations

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around disability rights and access,

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and even disability pride.

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 It’s really grounded my sense of disability pride

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and we had not just Stella Young but we had a lot of-

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Disabled people in my home when I was young.

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I think not many other people had that,

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They're always struggling with their identity as a disabled person.

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That’s something that has shaped your view of the world.

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How do you translate that to a space like this?

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Do you find that you're having to tell people

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how to make equestrian accessible?

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Or are they trying to make the space accessible for you?

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Is this an automatically successful space,

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or are you creating that?

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I think it’s a little bit of both.

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Sally my coach, has worked with disabled people a lot throughout her life,

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So she's very knowledgeable about disability.

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But I feel like I’m-

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just another girl who loves horses.

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Yeah.

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And my disability is not such a bad thing, it’s part of who I am and I love it.

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And I have a lot of friends here who are non-disabled people,

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and we all get along very well.

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Yeah. It. It doesn't seem to be that focus on,

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 ‘Well, Stella's here because she's disabled or because

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she's training for the Paralympics.’

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And talking to a few people around here,

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they seem to know you as just another person who

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likes horses.

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Yeah that's how I feel.

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Do you have a favourite part of equestrian?

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I see over there, there are little jumps,

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there are people out there

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they said they're ‘going around the block’,

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and I feel like a block means something different to them

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than it does to me.

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But is there a moment where you're just at peace

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with everything on a horse?

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Yeah,

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I mean,

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I think I said to you earlier I might be in Melbourne

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and I might be not feeling great,

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and I’ve got to get out the door.

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And I arrive here and I’m like ‘huh’.

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It’s very peaceful. It’s my happy place.

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It makes me happy. And I' have been doing a lot with my coach

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 Sally who will come out on foot but recently she's go me riding out in the pad down on my own. I go and do my own thing.

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It makes me happy.

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And I only have to think about what I’m doing on the horse.

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It seems to me that this Paralympics thing

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is not the be all and end all for you.

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You're just happy being out here, as you say.

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But can I put two situations to you?

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One is where you go to the next trials

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and you don't get to get in.

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The other is you get into the Australian team,

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you go over to Paris,

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you meet all these amazing people and then you

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have some really good rides and win a medal.

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Is that thought driving you

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 or does it not matter to you at all

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whether you're successful or not?

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My dream is to represent Australia at the Paralympics,

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but it doesn’t have to be this time.

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There’s always next Paralympics.

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Even if it never happens,

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then maybe it’s not meant to be.

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And I’m just enjoying the journey,

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and I’m really dedicated to my

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success in doing the very best I can.

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And if that doesn’t happen, then that's okay.

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As you say, you're still very young. -

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well, you’re much younger than I am -

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and there's there's, an a Paralympics every four years.

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And the good thing about

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horse riding is you can do it for decades,

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you don’t have to be young.

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And how does that play into

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your life outside of horse riding?

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Are there are there spaces that you find

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where you're not around horses

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that you'd like to see become more accessible?

00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,920

Yeah! A lot.

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I think we have come a long way.

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We’ve come a long way but we have a long way to go.

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What could the rest of society learn about

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your experiences in a place like this?

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I always say that the word access is about more than getting in the front door.

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It’s great if you have a ramp to get in, to a step free entry,

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but it’s about being inclusive of everyone,

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and making sure everyone feels like they’re

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valued and included.

00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:11,720

And it’s much more than getting in the front door.

00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:16,120

I love that front door has a physical element,

00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:19,440

but getting in the front door can mean so many things,

00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:23,200

and it's like just getting into into school

00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:24,440

or uni or getting a job.

00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:25,360

Exactly!

00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:27,880

Just, you know, opening that front door,

00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:31,440

and not not hiding us at the back.

00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:34,360

At school and uni, you’ve probably had

00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:36,360

people in your corner advocating

00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:40,000

for accessible, you know,

00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,000

whatever it might be, materials or,

00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,680

assessments or, or other things,

00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:48,880

do you think that's been the community around you

00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:50,280

that's really pushed for that?

00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:55,040

Oh yeah, definitely.

00:26:55,040 --> 00:27:02,240

I know at school, my mum,

00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:21,640

she's very good but she also asks the advice of other disabled people, so I think definitely, yeah.

00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,600

I wonder if your mum knew how expensive this hobby

00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:27,680

would become for you.

00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:34,800

Or she doesn't mind about that?

00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:39,160

But I think sometimes

00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:42,880

that family element feels so much of the weight,

00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,240

when it seems like coming to an organisation

00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:48,040

like this or a space like this,

00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:50,120

then the the whole community opens up for people,

00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:53,800

and so much of the burden is currently

00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:55,520

on a person with a disability,

00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:57,200

to make their way,

00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:00,520

whereas, you seem to have found a space here where

00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:03,240

the community realises that it's their burden -

00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,440

they are creating the disability, right.

00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,200

And they are also responsible for opening

00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:09,200

up the world for you.

00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:13,040

Is there any other place that comes near it?

00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:21,320

I mean when I was in high school,

00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:27,160

I had a very bad experience,

00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:34,840

and I had to move to another school,

00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:41,640

and they were amazing.

00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:47,920

After the bad experience I had,

00:28:47,920 --> 00:29:05,400

it was amazing to come to school where I was valued and included, it was just amazing.

00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,080

And that schooling experience

00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:10,480

has so many flow on effects.

00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:14,960

And perhaps we don't appreciate that all the time.

00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:19,880

That schooling can impact the rest of our life.

00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:24,880

And where we might get a job or where we might live,

00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:26,880

or who we might be able to

00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,840

make friends and form relationships with so,

00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,000

it's like if we could take some of the lessons from here

00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:38,000

and just import them to school, or as early as

00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:42,360

kinder or childcare, then

00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:44,720

those lessons go through the rest of our lives.

00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:45,640

Yeah.

00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:46,920

What's next?

00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:51,400

You’re focused on the Paralympics at the moment?

00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:52,880

May I add?

00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,040

Yeah, certainly.

00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:59,040

Before we move on -

00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:00,040

Go for it.

00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:09,200

I would really love to say that this place that we’re in now,

00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:15,680

it’s been really good for my independence.

00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:22,280

I stay here two nights a week.

00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:35,280

It’s really great for living independently.

00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:40,760

I drive my own car down here.

00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:48,280

It’s great for my independence.

00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:51,320

 I think it's something we can never under underestimate,

00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:56,960

the importance of independence.

00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:00,440

So whatever happens this year,

00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:03,160

and whether you go to Paris or

00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,480

you’re here with the rest of us watching it on TV,

00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:10,360

what do you see the next steps being for you?

00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,080

What does life hold in the next five years?

00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:16,760

Well,

00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:21,400

I think after Paris,

00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:25,800

regardless of what happens,

00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:41,040

I am looking at getting a job in the disability space.

00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:55,800

And I’m actually doing a bit of exploring about jobs at the moment.

00:31:55,800 --> 00:32:02,840

I don’t really know what it might be,

00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:13,960

but I’ll definitely still be horse riding.

00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:20,000

That's not gonna stop. But yeah, I’ll be getting a job.

00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:31,360

And maybe doing something like that...

00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:32,320

Yeah.

00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,480

So the other Stella had written on her arm:

00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:37,840

“You get proud by practising”.

00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:41,920

Has that had an influence on your life as well?

00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,040

It sounds like you're doing it right here.

00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:46,440

Definitely.

00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:55,760

I’ll never forget that one.

00:32:55,760 --> 00:33:08,360

We all have to practice disability pride.

00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:11,680

But not only that,

00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:29,120

I always have that mantra in everything I’m doing.

390

00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:34,360

I’m practising all the time,

00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:47,560

and I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved and you get proud by practising.

00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:55,520

We all need to practice our disability pride.

00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:56,480

Yeah.

00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:00,120

There are people and horses waiting to speak to you,

00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,160

but before I let you go and

00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,800

look after or feed Disco,

00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,360

is there anything that you want people to do

00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:12,960

to assist you to get to the Paralympics?

00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:25,520

I do have a little donation page on the Australian Sports Foundation website,

00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:32,120

if they wanted to get involved,

00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:38,200

but I don’t expect that at all.

00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:46,920

It’s just a great thing, the amount of support I’ve had.

00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:50,680

It’s been amazing.

00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:51,880

Well Stella Barton,

00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:54,040

it's been wonderful to chat.

00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:56,840

I think you are practicing pride every day,

00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:58,800

and that's really clear.

00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:00,720

I wish you all the best for,

00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:03,160

the last trial for the Paralympics,

00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:05,600

and hopefully see you

00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:09,640

on the screens in Paris later in the year,

00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:11,800

but thanks very much for bringing

00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:13,360

us to this amazing space and,

00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:17,040

Thanks so much Sam,

00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:22,480

for having me on your show,

00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:25,360

I’ve loved it.

00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:27,000

Spaces was recorded on

00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:30,400

Wurundjeri, Djaara, and Boonwurrung land.

00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:31,560

Spaces was produced

00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:33,440

by Humdinger for Powerd Media.

00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,840

The series was created by Sam Drummond,

00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:38,200

with support from Emma Sharp

00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:39,880

and Lucy Griffin at Humdinger.

00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:42,920

Field audio recording by Matthew Hoffman,

00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:44,640

editing by Simon McCulloch.