SHE RODE TO TRIUMPH OVER POLIO

DANISH DRESSAGE RIDER LIS HARTEL'S STORY IS ONE OF COURAGE AND UNCONQUERABLE HUMAN WILL

- BY Edwin Muller

LAST YEAR AT the horse show in New York, there was one exhibition that always brought down the house.

The lights in Madison Square Garden would go out. Two spotlights would focus on a single rider, a pretty, dark-haired woman in her mid-30s who rode her horse as if she were part of it, performing a sequence of intricate, delicate steps and movements: turning, backing, changing from trot to canter to gallop.

It was a performance of what the horse fraternity calls 'dressage,' and it requires more riding ability than the jumps or any other part of the horseman's art. The horse is guided by imperceptible, perfectly coordinated movements of the rider's legs, hands, body—by balance and a subtle shift of weight.

Those in the audience who applauded most were the connoisseurs. They realized what a remarkable feat of horsemanship they had seen. But only a few of them understood what a truly extraordinary achievement it had been. Behind it lies a shining story of courage.

The rider was Madame Lis Hartel of Copenhagen. Ten years before, she had been struck down by polio. It was a bad case, the sort from which, if the patient recovers, he is lucky to be only partially crippled for life. Her doctor tried to encourage her. He said that if she strove hard she might eventually be able to walk with two canes. Lis meant to do more. She meant to ride again. At that the doctor could only smile.

In September 1944, Lis Hartel was young, healthy and strong. Happily married, she had a baby of two, another on the way. She was one of the best riders in Denmark. It was good to be alive.