A young rider who will not let his cancer stand in the way of his dressage dreams is to have experiences of a lifetime; touring a top dressage yard – having met the legendary Valegro.
Craig Messenger, of Aster Horses in Kent, told H&H that the story of Dylan Ward, an eight-year-old who was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma last year, “touched his heart”, so he wanted to offer him a day at his and grand prix rider Daniel Watson’s yard.
“I saw a post about him and it really touched me,” Craig said. “He’s a dressage enthusiast, so I contacted his mum to see if he wanted to come to the yard, and he was really excited – and it’s blown up from there.”
Craig contacted Aster’s sponsors, to see if some goodies could be arranged for Dylan on his visit, and also Charlotte Dujardin, who offered to arrange another special opportunity.
“Life can deal such cruel cards, but in times like these, it pays for us to be there for each other and to lift one another – this is a community that can do that,” said Charlotte. “It’s so kind of Craig Messenger and his team to do this for Dylan. In addition to this, Dylan, and dependent on what your family say, I would personally like to invite you and your family to the British Dressage National Convention at the end of November, where you will be able to watch myself and some of my teammates talk lots about dressage. Then you will be able to meet our lovely Valegro privately before his appearance, as well as receive a little goody bag for you and your horses.”
Dylan and his family were unable to make the convention, so they “went one better” and visited Charlotte and Valegro at home.
“Valegro was as welcoming and sweet with Dylan as we know him to be, as Dylan had a little sit on him,” Charlotte said. “Like Blueberry, Dylan has a huge heart and I pray that he overcomes this time and gets well, as the world is a lot brighter with people like him in it.
“Thank you to Lewis Carrier for arranging the visit and to Dylan and his family for bringing smiles to us all. A special moment.”
Since Dylan’s diagnosis in June 2022, he has had 14 courses of high-strength chemotherapy, six weeks of proton beam therapy and two weeks of radiotherapy. He is currently taking oral chemotherapy.
He has lifelong disabilities as a result of the cancer but is holding tight to his dream of being a “champion dressage rider”. He took home three wins at the RDA National Championships this year and since joining British Dressage has qualified for the Quest regional finals and the Associated Championships. He also has all three scores needed to qualify for the winter Area Festivals at prelim bronze level.
Craig said Dylan’s visit to Kent is scheduled for early December; the youngster will be able to watch the horses at work, and Craig hopes to persuade Daniel to let Dylan ride his grand prix schoolmistress, as “I know she will look after him”.
“It just touched my heart,” Craig added. “He’s got so much determination and I thought if he can do it, what can I do to give back, how can we make his year. We’ve got a GoFundMe page to see if we can get him a new set of wheels as he’s got no transport, and we’ve been sent boxes of stuff from NAF, KM Elite – it’s fabulous.”
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