“On the back of a horse, I felt both free and safe at the same time.” This sentence is emblem­atic of Bianca Vogel-Schmidt’s extra­or­di­nary life. In her biog­ra­phy, “Beyond Barri­ers,” she recounts her child­hood, her passion for eques­trian sports, her jour­ney to the top of the world, and her commit­ment to the rights of people with thalido­mide damage.

Born with­out arms in the early 1960s due to the drug Contergan/Thalidomide, Bianca Vogel-Schmidt grew up in a small Rhineland town. From the begin­ning, her parents provided her with an inclu­sive upbring­ing and encour­aged her to forge her own path. Yet, she repeat­edly encoun­tered prej­u­dice and soci­etal barri­ers – in school, in her profes­sional life, and in compet­i­tive sports.

Despite all obsta­cles, Bianca Vogel-Schmidt devel­oped into an inter­na­tion­ally success­ful dres­sage rider. She became a multi­ple world cham­pion and won two silver medals at the 2004 Para­lympic Games in Athens. At the same time, as one of the promi­nent faces of the Thalido­mide move­ment, she advo­cated for recog­ni­tion, justice, and social participation.

Her life story also reflects soci­etal change: from a time when people with disabil­i­ties were primar­ily seen as welfare recip­i­ents, through the first efforts towards inte­gra­tion, to today’s demand for equal participation.

“Beyond Barri­ers” tells of personal successes and setbacks, of courage, self-determination, and the fight against prej­u­dice. It is the story of a woman who refused to accept soci­etal limi­ta­tions and found her own path between small-town life, inter­na­tional elite sports, and polit­i­cal engagement.

*****

Our tip:

At the “Egmond Circle,” Diana Ihmann will read from Bianca Vogel-Schmidt’s previ­ously unpub­lished biog­ra­phy, “Beyond Barriers.”

When: Satur­day, Octo­ber 31, 2026, 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Where: Abdi­jzaal, Hotel Zuiderduin