BDC Alumni Dale Johnston - "Never give up on your dreams"

Thursday, 22 Oct 2020

This story began over nineteen years ago when a small 11-year old boy, Dale Johnston dared to dream.

At six months of age Dale Johnston contracted meningitis which left him with an acquired brain injury resulting in multiple permanent complications including a right hemiplegia (stroke), epilepsy, hearing loss, shunted hydrocephalus and a development impairment.

Dale attended BDC from 1999 till 2006 when he completed Year 6.

He then finalised his schooling in a Special Ed Unit during high school completing Year 12 in 2008.

His highlights during his dressage career was 2013 & 2014 when he represented Australia in both Italy and the U.K riding borrowed horses with only a few days of training on each horse.

Dale produced great performances and scored very respectable marks, gaining him a FEI World Ranking of 6 for Grade 2 Para Equestrians in 2013. An amazing achievement when you consider Dale's World Ranking was recognised whilst competing on several different borrowed horses during international competition with limited training time on each horse before competition.

He gained a wealth of knowledge and experience and he will always value the friendships that developed with fellow competitors during his OS journey.

Dale was a popular competitor and a respected ambassador for his country.

During 2013 Dale also achieved a prestigious award from Equestrian NSW in recognition for Elite Performance during the year.

Dale is now 30 years old and still riding, training and competing.