Inspiring horsewoman Sue-Ellen Lovett awarded OAM honour

A two-time Paralympian, cancer survivor, accomplished fundraiser, dedicated advocate and self described horse addict, Mrs Lovett has an innate ability to inspire and uplift those fortunate enough to cross her path.

As such, in recognition of her services to the horse sports and broader community Mrs Lovett has been awarded a medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the general division.

"I'm very proud, it is such an honour and privilege," she said.

"But my life is never just me, it has always been a team effort and there is no I in team."

Born in 1959, Mrs Lovett grew up on a 21,000-acre property near Mudgee surrounded by animals.

Her affinity with horses began at age three as she rode her pony around the stockyard or on a lead with the station hands.

Like most country kids, Mrs Lovett spent the majority of her childhood outside helping on the farm.

"It was the most ideal childhood, I just spent it on my horse," she said.

Mrs Lovett was known as a clumsy kid, she ran into everything, all the time.

Except she wasn't clumsy, she was born with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a heredity disease that left her with 12 per cent of her vision.

"I didn't know that I couldn't see properly because I never knew what full vision was," she said.

"I was diagnosed at 12 and ended up with glasses as thick as coke bottles, but I already had the start of the disease."

It would be years later in her thirties that the decline of Mrs Lovett's sight stopped and she became totally blind.

While many might have hung up the saddle or given up on goals deemed too hard to achieve, Mrs Lovett dreamed bigger and devoted her life to helping others.

In 1996 Mrs Lovett competed at the Atlanta Paralympic Games achieving 13^th place in the mixed dressage grade four and 11^th place in the mixed kur canter grade four.

She was the National Grade Four Champion, Riding for the Disabled Australia, from 1995 to 2000 and won a bronze medal at the World Equestrian Games, Denmark, in 1999.

Mrs Lovett has also been ranked in the top ten per cent of elite dressage riders in Australia.

She was appointed as member of the Sydney Olympic Games Organising Committee and acted as an Ambassador for two years.

Mrs Lovett also represented her country on home soil, achieving fifth place in mixed dressage freestyle grade four, eighth place in mixed dressage championship grade four and fifth in the mixed dressage team open at the Sydney Olympics.

She has been a life member of Equestrian Australia since 2000 and was involved in the development of the automated dressage arena marker announcer.

Mrs Lovett is also the only totally blind equestrian in the world to ride at Grand Prix level, a dream come true.

Currently, she is a level one specialist dressage coach.

"Horses have always been the wind beneath my wings, they make me smile and they're a great reason to get up in the morning," she said.

Outside of her accomplishments in the arena, Mrs Lovett has raised over $3.2 million for various charities by doing ten long-distance horse rides.

Her longest was 2400 kilometres from Cairns to the Gold Coast, which she completed in 54 days.

Mrs Lovett has donated money to Guide Dogs Australia, NSW and ACT, Riding for the Disabled NSW, Camperdown Children's Hospital and the Mudgee Lions Club Lions Save Sight.

She also funded three helipads at the Mudgee, Gulgong and Rylstone hospital as well as the Integrated Wellness Centre Oncology Unit in Dubbo.

Mrs Lovett, published her first book 'Joho and the Blind Chick' in 2020 and a year later her second, 'John and The Blink Chick Two'.

In 2023 she published her autobiography and later this year will release a documentary about her life.

One of Mrs Lovett's most memorable moments was on the back of her beloved stock horse mare Mudgee, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground while speaking to an audience of over 50,000 people.

Reflecting on her achievements, Mrs Lovett said it was important to surround herself with people who were positive and supportive.

"You can choose to have a go and make each day count, or you can choose not to," she said.

"I'd be lying if I said there haven't been times when it has been really dark and very hard because not all of it is easy.

"But you don't have to have vision to achieve what you want, vision is more than just seeing."