Zoe Gottwald

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Zoe is a 16-year-old high school student and lives in Pickering ON. When Zoe was just turning 4 years old, she was involved in a lawn mower tractor accident on her grandparent’s farm. She was airlifted to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. The doctors tried for over a month to ‘save’ her left leg. Then Zoe got a blood infection, so her parents made the hard decision to amputate her left leg just below the knee. 

Zoe left Sick Kids shortly after her amputation in June 2009 and went to a children’s rehabilitation hospital where she spent 5 months and learned to walk again and get stronger with her new pink prosthetic leg.

Zoe and her Family moved to Alberta when Zoe was 6 years old. At the age of 10 she started riding horses for therapy at Sweet Talk Stables in Chestermere, AB. Her Mom felt it was a good way for Zoe to be around horses as they are very therapeutic. Shortly after taking lessons Zoe’s parents put her in some horse show jumping competitions. She was coming in first in some of her shows and she hasn’t looked back since. Zoe’s pony, Wrath of Khan (aka Khan) Zoe rode in Alberta came back home to Ontario with them. 

She competed on Khan for another year but then outgrew him. Since then, Zoe has been competing on a variety of large horses and moving up in heights as well. This year Zoe is top 3 in her jumper division this year and will be competing at the end of September in her Championships in the Silver Series, riding a beautiful 17.1 hand bay TB named Twist Again.

Zoe rides at Lake House Stables in Ashburn ON and is coached by the owner/operator Ashley Sakaguchi Newel and also Brandon Hall (he is with Ontario Equestrian).

Zoe is a National ambassador for The War Amp of Canada, CHAMPS Program (child amputee program) and was for Holland Bloorview the largest children’s rehabilitation hospital in Canada.

When Zoe is not at the barn or riding horses, she enjoys playing volleyball, travelling, hanging out with friends & reading.