There are many people who have an influence on our lives. Occasionally there are people who come along who have a far reaching influence over not just one area of life, but over many. The number of people they have the ability to inspire is untold.
One such woman was Lis Hartel.
Lis was born in Copenhagen in March 1921. Like many young girls she had a love of horses, and she showed a talent for riding. Her mother coached her initially, but then professional horseman Gunnar Andersen took over when her competitive standard reached national level.
In 1943 and 1944 she was crowned Danish Dressage Champion.
The year 1944 would prove to be a momentous year for Lis. She fell pregnant, and then while still carrying her daughter contracted polio. Her daughter when she arrived was a healthy baby, unaffected by her mother’s illness.
Unfortunately for Lis the polio would have a lasting impact. She lost the use of her legs and had some paralysis in her arms. She was told that she would never ride again.
As soon as she started her rehabilitation she was determined not only to regain the ability to use her limbs but also to reclaim her status as a top Danish equestrian. Unfortunately she never regained the use of her lower legs. She also remained weak in her thighs, arms and hands for the rest of her life. However that was never going to hold her back.
Within twelve months she was sat atop a horse again, and gave birth to her second daughter in 1945.
Lis was unable to climb into a saddle on her own. Now she relied on others to lift her up and help her down. In those early days she is said to have had many a fall as she struggled to learn to balance in the saddle without the use of her legs.
She was determined that she would compete again, but like in many sports she needed a partner who would work with her. In this case her partner was a horse named Jubilee. Jubilee was, it has been written, the perfect foil, calm, dependable, patient and willing.
Lis and Jubilee worked together and soon developed an understanding. Jubilee learning to respond to subtle weight changes, back movements and the lightest of hand movements.
In the first season that the two entered serious competition, they frequently placed in the top three and even won some events. Soon the two were dominating their event in Denmark. It has been reported that many didn’t even realise that Lis Hartels had a disability, and that “the lightness and elegance of her riding style earned her great praise.”
As 1952 approached friends encouraged Lis to campaign for a place on the Danish team at the Helsinki Olympic Games. This would be another milestone in more ways than one. Dressage at the Olympics was open only to commissioned military officers until 1952. This was to be the first year that women and civilians would be allowed to compete in the Dressage event.
Lis won the Danish Championships and to Helsinki she went where she was one of four women who were the first women to compete against men in an equestrian sport at the Olympic Games.
Once in Helsinki nerves overcame her and apparently she wanted to head home. She had nothing to worry about as her partner Jubilee performed superbly. The pair finished just 15 points behind the winner, Swedish rider Henri St. Cyr. She had claimed the Olympic Silver medal.
In an oft forgotten historic Olympic moment, St. Cyr lifted Lis out of the saddle and carried her onto the podium. It was only at this moment that many in the crowd were aware of her disability.
Not surprisingly she returned to Denmark a national hero. Denmark won two gold medals and three bronze. Lis Hartel’s silver medal was the only silver medal her country won.
Jubilee and Hartel were guests of honour at the Horse of the Year show in London that year.
The pair had no intention of retiring, and more Danish Championships followed as well as the first ever FEI Dressage World Championship. Then it was time to head back to the Olympics in 1956. The Games were to be held in Melbourne, but quarantine regulations prevented horses from attending and so the equestrian events were held in Stockholm.
Unfortunately she lost to St. Cyr again, but claimed a second silver medal. There was also a female bronze medallist in Liselott Linsenhoff of the United team of Germany. As an aside, Dressage was almost erased from the Olympic Games after these Games as German and Swedish judges were found to be favouring their own competitors, which makes Lis Hartel’s performance all the more impressive. The IOC did change the rules for 1960 with only individual competitors being allowed and only up to 2 riders per country.
Denmark only won four medals at the Melbourne Olympics, one gold, two silver and one bronze. Which highlights her achievement. Another remarkable performance was that of gold medallist Paul Elvstrom who was in the throes of winning four consecutive individual gold medals (1948–60) for sailing.
The 1956 Olympics were to be Jubilee’s last international appearance as she was put out to pasture, but sadly it was a short retirement as she had to be put down a year later. Understandably Lis Hartel was devastated.
Lis Hartel was a driven woman and for the rest of her life she raised money and campaigned internationally for the Polio Foundation and therapeutic riding. She was one of the key players in riding eventually being accepted as a mainstream form of rehabilitation. The Lis Hartel Foundation in the Netherlands, is named after her, and offers such riding opportunities.
She won seven Danish national championships, two Olympic silver medals, and was named as one Denmark’s top ten athletes of all time. Yet despite all of this success Lis claimed that her greatest achievement was opening Europe’s first Therapeutic Riding Centre.
Lis died at the age of 87 in 2009. She was a pioneer paralympian, as well as a top-level female dressage rider. Despite Polio altering her life dramatically she refused to become a victim. Throughout her life she inspired others with polio and disabilities, she also inspired women and even though she is no longer with us the memory of her achievements continue to inspire.
