'I don't feel any different from the first day I rode'

In Tokyo last year, she was Australia's oldest athlete, in any sport, ever to compete at the Olympic Games. But don't tell Mary Hanna that. The equestrian champion insists that age is just a number, and the best is yet to come.

- MONIQUE BUTTERWORTH

Arriving at Mary Hanna's expansive Gisborne property in Victoria's Macedon Ranges, we soon find that keeping up with the owner is no easy feat. Those long, lithe legs that are instrumental for dressage riders are setting a cracking pace towards the paddock where her retired Grand Prix horses live out their days in what is essentially horse heaven.

"Caring for our horses doesn't finish when they retire from their sport," the six-time Olympian tells us as we race behind her (beaten only by the two horses thundering alongside, ready to be fed). "We give them a beautiful retirement out in the paddock. We look after them until the end of their life. Mosaic, my first Olympic horse I rode in Atlanta [in 1996] retired at 18 and lived until he was 32.

"Horses, like people, can teach you to be tough and resilient. A childhood with horses is a great preparation for whatever life may dish out to you. They have taught me, enriched my life, and taken me on so many wonderful journeys throughout the world."

Mary's determination to compete for a record seventh time at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is palpable. However, any fuss made about her 67 years of age makes her wince.

"No one within horse sport mentions my age," she bristles. "Dressage is a beautiful sport open to people of any age. It doesn't rely on strength, it's about feeling and timing. Equestrian is the only Olympic sport where men and women compete completely equally. Young or old, it doesn't make a difference; if you're fit and healthy, you can just keep going. It's all about your rapport and relationship with the horse, which I think is one of the most beautiful things about dressage."

Indeed, the thrill Mary feels each time hasn't changed since the first day she sat on a horse, still wearing nappies.