She is going to the Games with her horse Doo Schufro. A 15-year-old horse, with whom Annemarieke Nobel has been together for seven years now. “He just thinks all that hustle and bustle is great. He enjoys it. He only wants it to be more, more, more. I know for sure that he wants to shine there. I really don’t have to worry about him, the national coach said that too.”
Nobel suffers from dystonia, a disease in which the muscles do not communicate well with the brain. For example, if she wants to give a little tap, she can suddenly hit hard. Or her muscles can start making movements without Nobel wanting them to.
The condition is getting worse and worse and is not going away. There are few things she can do anymore. Even riding her scooter all day is hard. Then her wrists and hands get really swollen. “From the force you have to exert all the time. It’s nothing, but even that is too much.”
