The Bicentennial National Trail in Australia covers an astounding 5,330 km of land that ranges from Cooktown in North Queensland to Healesville in Victoria. While the idea of trekking such an expansive trail on horseback might not appeal to anyone but the hardiest of riders, for one Aussie equestrian, it’s the goal and achievement of a lifetime.
Rowena Dowling was born blind in one eye, but grew up riding alongside her father who owned Arabians and gifted his daughter a chestnut filly in her youth. Dowling became a nurse, but when a glaucoma diagnosis in her 20s took her remaining sight, she thought her riding days were over.
For years Dowling adjusted to being blind and lived a fulfilling life, but she was still passionate about horses and riding, which she missed. Then it all changed when she met a woman who worked with the visually impaired. Dowling told a reporter from ABC News in Australia, “I said to her, ‘I never even considered as a blind person going back to riding, but would you be prepared to support me and be my eyes when I’m riding a horse? And she readily agreed.”