Dressage For All 25: Meet the Virtus medallists

2025 saw a fantastic performance by the British athletes at the Virtus Para Equestrian World Championship, showcasing the talent of those with intellectual impairments excelling in the sporting sphere. As part of Dressage For All week, hear from some of the medal winning riders on their experiences. 

Virtus opens up a world of opportunity for riders with intellectual disability, and also additional impairments such as Downs Syndrome or Autism.  

Held at Sparsholt Equestrian from 24–25 July 2025, the Virtus Para Equestrian World Championship gathered riders from around the globe to compete across three grades, using either their own horses or loaned mounts. After two days of exceptional sport, the British team of Danielle Curzon, Chris Bradley, Harriet Moore and Daisy Britnell secured overall victory, along with wins in two individual divisions for Danielle and Chris and a further two podium placings for Harriet and individual Jessica Limb.  

“I was an RDA rider on my horse,” Jessica explained about her journey, “it was actually one of the other team riders who suggested I might be eligible for Virtus. I went through the classification process to gain my international classification; at that time I actually didn’t have a horse, so I did a bit of borrowing of horses. I was lucky to find Penhaligon’s Danny De Vito, his owners lent him to me and it was an amazing opportunity.”  

Explaining what motivates her both in and out of the arena, she continued: “I love competing, it gives me the drive to train for. It’s given me so many other opportunities too. I became an RDA trustee to give back to the community, and what I was given through their platform at the start.” 

At the World Championship, Jessica earned silver in the ii3 Grade lV Intermediate A; an amazing achievement for her first international and only second stay away show. “My goal has always been to compete for the UK and I did that and even came home with a medal,” she said proudly. “It was a dream come true. I set my goal for that event along time ago, so to do it at home was really special. The team around were amazing. We were so lucky to have so much support from everyone; even Danny’s breeder came to support us.” 

Danielle Curzon and Dizzy Rascal were an integral part of the team who earned gold ahead of Australia. “It was an absolutely fantastic experience,” Danielle said, “I owe it all to my mare Dizzy Rascal. She’s owned by Victoria Moss, we must make something of our owners and she was bred by Sandy Senior.” 

As part of the 2024 Dressage For All Week, British Dressage spoke to Danielle about her experiences with autism. “At that time I’d just won the summer Nationals and I’d just got my national classification,” she explained more about the journey to world medals, “After that I got my international classification and went on to win the international video competition. This led to selection with both of my horses.” 

At Sparsholt, Danielle showed her class leading the team with 74.86% and going on to earn the ii3 Grade lV Intermediate A World Championship class with another outstanding mark of 75.32%. 

“Going from there to winning gold at the Worlds was amazing. I was really proud, we won the gold on team day and then myself and Dizzy were actually the highest scorers on both days, on the way to securing our golds.” 

Speaking about whether she expected to do well, Danielle said: “I was very grateful to my trainers, Becky Moody and Cherry Elvin, but you can have the best preparation and still make mistakes! You go in and hope that everything comes together. The highlight has to be getting given 80% both days from Jennie Loriston-Clarke, who was one of the judges.”  

Danielle concluded with a message to other riders out there, thinking about getting started with Virtus and SportExcel UK, saying: “Get involved! It’s quite a new process so be prepared for a little wait whilst you get started, I had great support from BD throughout the classification as I’m a BD rider as well.” 

Find out more 

Virtus is the global organisation that governs, advocates, organises and promotes many elite sports for athletes with an intellectual impairment. SportExcel UK lead and manage the eligibility of British athletes for inclusion within Virtus in the UK and are recognised by UK Sport. They evaluate whether an athlete is eligible for registration and therefore able to compete with Virtus. Both Virtus and SportExcel UK are members of the British Paralympic Association.

Equestrian sport is one of the newest additions to Virtus, with Dressage making its debut in 2016 and Great Britain sending athletes to the Global Games in Vichy in 2023 The competition environment is mixed with opportunities for virtual and in-person competing both nationally and internationally. Levels can range from Europeans to Worlds culminating in the prestigious Global Games. Athletes, depending on eligibility, will ride either the FEI Para Grade IIl or lV Novice and Intermediate tests. The minimum age for competing at live Virtus competitions is 14 years old. Athletes of any age can compete in the virtual competitions which are hosted three times per year.

MORE INFORMATION ON VIRTUS