In the latest in our series focusing on the Para Sport Collective, supported by ACC, we share the story of passionate and influential Para equestrian rider Nicola Wills.
Given her seemingly boundless energy levels and relentlessly positive nature, it is hard to comprehend that Nicola Wills lives with persistent pain as a consequence of deteriorating rheumatoid arthritis.
A passionate advocate for Para equestrian and herself a talented rider, Nicola combines her love of sport with her day job working tirelessly as a counsellor for gambling addiction. Talking at a breakneck speed, her dynamism is clear and on closer inspection so is the transformative qualities of Para equestrian, which has instilled in the 46-year-old a sense of purpose and meaning.
Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis back in 2000 and experiencing intense pain for the next nine years she was forced to quit riding. However, following her discovery of a new pain-management treatment, it opened the door to Para equestrian.
“With my compensating aids, the sport has given me the ability to compete with my friends on an even playing field,” explains Nicola. “Para equestrian has given not only me, but other riders hope.”
From a family steeped in equestrian sports, Nicola first sat on a pony at the age of four and recalls the inspiration of watching Mark Todd strike gold at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games as a starry-eyed five-year-old.
“I saw him jump that last fence and I thought, that’s what I wanted to do, compete at the Olympics,” recalls Nicola.
At the age of eight she started competing as an eventer and later progressed into a national standard rider. Horses were her world.
“I love horses and that feeling of power, freedom and the adrenaline rush they give me,” she says. “My sisters and I would ride all day. The horses went everywhere with us.”
Later training as a cordon bleu chef allowed her to work nights and ride during the day, she harboured ambitions to ride internationally until she suddenly developed joint pain around her 21st birthday.
Experiencing painful hand cramps, North Waikato-based Nicola was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis – the same disease as her mother.
“That time of my life was so painful,” she says. “It was a horrible time. It was not like the pain when you break a leg, it is an all over body pain that started out in my hands, feet and ankles and has now spread to every joint in my body including my neck.”
Unable to ride because she could no longer get onto a horse, she fell into a depression and sold her horses. However, it took the sage words of her mum to act as a wake-up call for the despondent Nicola.
“It was not a nice time, but I remember mum saying to me ‘you are not dead, so you now need to get on with it’. I was crying at the time, but after I thought about it, I realised she was right.”
Focusing on rebuilding her life, Nicola with her then partner, became a dairy farmer. Putting riding to the back of her mind, she instead fulfilled her equestrian love by coaching, managing Pony Club teams and coordinating equestrian events.
Yet hope arrived in 2009 when an opportunity to trial a new biological medication arose. The new injectable successfully minimised the inflammation in her body which allowed her – with compensating aids – to once again ride a horse.
“I was ecstatic to be in the saddle,” she explains. “After getting over that feeling of vertigo of being high on a horse, I picked up the reins and I was back.”
Learning how to re-balance on the horse she received her classification as a Para equestrian rider in 2010 which Nicola describes as “a huge opportunity.”
“I remember going from feeling like I did not belong to all of a sudden riding as a Para dressage rider,” she explains. “The pain was managed and the loops on my reins and elastic bands on my stirrups allowed me to ride, which was like hallelujah!”
“My journey as a Para rider began by being led around the paddock, I felt like a beginner again, but after a few rides I was off on my own around the farm. I remember my first trot and canter again and after a few months I entered the Waikato Winter Dressage Series where I had to re-learn how to balance the horse and remember how to memorise a six-minute dressage test.”
Today married to horse-loving David and living back on the family farm – which includes a dressage arena and stables with an indoor arena just five minutes’ drive away – in Pukekawa near Tuakau, has provided the ideal location for Nicola to progress her Para equestrian career.
Winning several national titles and Horse of the Year Shows over the past 15 years, Nicola is a well-known personality on the New Zealand Para equestrian scene, and she has frequently supported New Zealand Equestrian Sports to promote Para equestrian – even at the cost of impacting her personal riding ambitions.
“Over the years I probably haven’t done as well as I could have because I’ve tended to sacrifice my own competition and put other riders first,” she explains. “Being the national rider representative for Para equestrian here in New Zealand has been a position I have felt passionate about” she explains. “Helping grow Para Dressage as an Equestrian Sports New Zealand discipline has been a privilege and I’m excited moving forward for the future of the sport. We have some excellent riders and are breeding excellent horsepower. Paralympian #233 Louise Duncan competing at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games has really helped cement the status of the Para sport in New Zealand.”
Nicola has also faced the challenge of a deteriorating condition which has impacted on her classification. First classified 15 years ago as a Grade V rider she now competes as a Grade II rider and living with the painful condition presents daily challenges for Nicola.
She now requires help mounting and dismounting the horse with her supportive husband, Dave, often fulfilling the role. Meanwhile, fatigue is also an ever-present challenge.
“I have to plan my days right down to what clothes I can get on without help” says Nicola who rides between three and four times per week. “If I’m going to ride after work, I won’t take stairs or walk too far because I will have used up all my energy. But I can still do lots of active things, like go trout fishing on accessible rivers. I do have poor balance, and I use a walking stick more often than I’d like, but everything is adaptable if you want it enough. I try not to share with others the pain that I am feeling, I don’t want to depress people or make them feel sorry for me.”
A member of intake two of the Para Sport Collective, Nicola has fully embraced the opportunity to upskill and be around other Para athletes and coaches.
A successful application was made by Equestrian Sports New Zealand for Nicola to join the Collective and she adds of the experience: “It has been inspiring to be able to spend time in the same room with so many other athletes with a disability. Being part of the Para Sport Collective has given me a sense of belonging and an energising lift. Having big dreams can be daunting, but by being around others with a similar vision, you realise those dreams can become reality.”
Having bought a new horse in October 2024, seven-year-old Louis, Nicola looks optimistically to the future. Describing him as “tall and athletic” but also possessing a good brain, she is confident Louis will allow her to thrive.
“Louis and I are campaigning towards the 2026 World Equestrian Games in Aachen,” she explains. “The dream is for Para equestrian riders to feature as part of the NZ Paralympic Team at the LA 2028 Paralympic Games, and I hope to be part of that Team.”
Should Nicola achieve the feat it will be a richly deserved accomplishment for the woman who has given so much to Para equestrian.
