| Headercolor: | green |
| Textcolor: | yellow |
| Katie Umback | |
| Fullname: | Katie-Maree Umback |
| Birth Date: | 20 August 1973 |
| Country: | Australia |
| Sport: | Para-equestrian |
| Disability Class: | Grade III |
Katie-Maree Umback[1] [2] (born 20 August 1973) is an Australian para-equestrian who represented her country at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Umback was born on 20 August 1973.[3] At the age of 32, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. As a result, she underwent several years of chemotherapy and several rounds of autoimmune medications. She is partially numb in 70 per cent of her body and has diminished arm and leg strength.[4] She lives in Bega, New South Wales.[3]
Umback started with pony clubs at the age of five and moved to dressage at the age of seven.[3] She then moved into eventing but this ceased at the age of 18 after a serious fall on a cross country course which led to her breaking the fifth vertebra in her neck.[3] She then concentrated on dressage. After her treatment for multiple sclerosis, she returned to riding with the goal of competing at the Paralympics.[3] In 2014, as a Grade III rider she competed the CPEDI 3* in Hartpury, England. In the lead up to the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she based herself Holland so that she could compete on the European dressage circuit and undertake Paralympic qualifiers.[3]
In a 2015 interview, Umback said: "I should be totally disabled by now but I never accepted that outcome for my life, I always stayed positive in my thoughts and everything I do and have never given up on myself or my dreams and now I'm living my dreams."[5]
At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she rode Danish Warmblood gelding, Gronskovlunds Marquis.[3] [6] [7] She finished eighth in the Dressage Individual Team Test Grade III and 12th in the Individual Championship Test Grade III and was a member of the Australian Team that finished ninth in the Team Competition.[8]