What makes a top Para-Equestrian? Results of a survey of riders’ motivation

The study reported on in this article was carried out in cooperation between the Norwegian Equestrian Federation (NRYF) and the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. The project aimed to document motivation and performance indicators of an elite group of Para Equestrian sports men and women using survey and in depth interviews in a 2 stage process. Stage 1 was a survey by electronic questionnaire of Para Equestrians who competed in the Paralympics 2008 in Hong Kong. Stage 2 was a semi structured interview of 10 entrants in the FEI European Para Equestrian Championship hosted by NRFY at the Epona Riding center in Kristiansand in August 2009. This article sums up some of the information on background and characteristics from the electronic survey, supplemented by examples from the qualitative interviews.