Paris 2024: Roxanne Trunnell on journey of a lifetime

Horses have always been a big part of life for USA’s two-time Paralympic champion Roxanne Trunnell. She competed in dressage, aiming for the Olympic Games, before she contracted the H1N1 virus in 2009 and began using a wheelchair. As her life changed, two things that remained the same were her passion for riding – and commitment to constantly improve. 

Trunnell got back in the saddle to pursue a successful career in Para equestrian, representing USA at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, leaving Japan with two individual gold medals and a team dressage bronze. However, the sport has meant so much more than just medals for the Washington-born 38-year-old athlete. 

Riding for therapy  

"Riding has hugely helped me, not only for the physical aspect of it but more mentally," Trunnell said. 

"Going to school or work and then going riding has been the norm for a good chunk of my life. When my friends went to parties on weekends, I would be off to a horse show." 

After waking up from the coma that the virus put her in, it was important to go to the barn as much as possible. 

"Even if I couldn't ride and just got to feed the horses carrots and cookies because that felt 'normal' to me," Trunnell said. 

Getting back into the sport, the horses made any physical limitations disappear. 

"I have difficulty walking far without falling but when I am on top of a horse, its legs become an extension of my own legs and I am able to walk longer and further than I normally would be able to."  

Bonding with horse is the key 

Pivotal to Trunnell’s success is keeping her four-legged partners happy. During her first years in Para equestrian, she continued riding with Nice Touch – "Touché" – with whom she had competed as an able-bodied athlete. 

"I rode her at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in France. She was the oldest horse on the USA Para dressage team," said Trunnell. 

"I semi-retired her after that and now I only ride her at home. She is 28 years old and healthier than most horses half her age." 

Trunnell is convinced that bonding with the horses is key to make them give it all for her at competitions. 

"After a ride I always make sure to give the horse treats. Even on days I'm not riding I go to the barn to just love on them," she said. 

"When it comes down to it, it is just up to you and your horse, out there in that ring, to give the judges chills, so the extra time you spend with your horse matters." 

Another key is tough physical training, on and off the horse. "If we expect these horses to be fit enough to compete, then the least we as riders can do for them is to stay fit ourselves." 

Bouncing back from pain  

She remembers her Paralympic debut at Rio 2016 as "a mess" where her main takeaway was the experience of rubbing shoulders with the world's greatest Para athletes. 

"Just staying at the Athletes' Village, eating at the cafeteria with all the various athletes, was an eye-opener and led me to not being so in awe of all of it when the 2020 Paralympic Games came around," she said. 

The postponed Tokyo Games were special in many ways. Result-wise, it was the peak of Trunnell's career so far. At the same time, it was a tough physical and mental challenge. 

"I was dealing with a physical issue that was causing me quite a bit of pain going into the Games and while the team was at training camp in Germany I lost someone very close to me to suicide," Trunnell said. 

"But with the help of the team physiotherapist we were able to solve my physical problem and being able to text my friends, who knew the deceased, we were able to make it feel like I wasn't so alone." 

Winning gold medal in the Individual competition as well as in the Individual Freestyle test, the Grade I star turned it all around. Adding a bronze in the Team dressage to an impressive medal haul, Trunnell turned tragedy into triumph. 

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"I look back on the Games with a smile because there were some tough things going on, but I didn't just curl up in a fetal position and give up when things got hard."  

Still the same goofy, horse-loving 'Roxie' 

Trunnell had not travelled to Japan expecting a gold medal. At one stage, she even forgot which event she was at. 

"I was coming out of the arena when they announced my score and my trainer said 'yes, you're in the gold medal position'. Then I realised I had totally forgotten I was riding at the Paralympics'," she said. 

"It had just been like another ride with my trainer, and I rode like no-one was watching and it paid off." 

On the plane back to the US, it dawned to her what she had done. 

"I was like 'wow, I just competed at the Paralympics against some of the best Para dressage riders in the world and walked away with three medals. How cool is that?" She said. 

She is proud of her horse Dolton, who excelled at the first competition he had to fly to, and of herself for not letting the medals get to her head. 

"I'm still the same goofy, horse-loving 'Roxie' who grew up in Washington despite the fact that I'm riding at the international level," Trunnell said. 

"I'm very low-key about my success, I like to think that I'm more of a cowgirl than an actual Para dressage rider. I just happen to be pretty good at riding around in circles." 

This year she hopes to defend her titles at Paris 2024. 

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"It would show the world that I'm not just a 'flash in the pan' rider. Just because I had success at the last Paralympics doesn't mean I stopped working on my riding," she said. 

"I know that there are other riders who are just as hungry to have a gold medal around their necks and so if I'm going to have that happen, I'm going to have to keep being the best rider I can be."  

Trunnell has not changed much in her training since Tokyo, but one thing is new this year; she will qualify more than one horse. 

"I'm really excited to see what happens at these Games," she said. 

"The riders work harder, the training is getting more fine-tuned, and the quality of horses is improving. It's going to be quite a fight for the medals." 

Book your tickets for the Paralympic Games by visiting the Paris 2024 ticketing website.