Soaring gracefully over the fences in the showjumping arena as her trainer shouts his instructions, Karen Law looks every bit the accomplished horsewoman.

Listen carefully however, and even a novice might sense that some of the commands seem surprisingly simple. Like ‘walk straight’ and ‘make the turn.’

But then they need to be - because Karen, 53, from Stockport, can’t see where she is going. She’s blind, and relies on both her instructor and her bond with her beautiful eight-year-old-grey mare, Pearl, to navigate her way around the course and its many fences, some of which are over a metre high.

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Karen Law is Britain's only blind showjumper who has an extraordinary bond with her horse Pearl

It requires extraordinary trust, not to mention courage – qualities that 53-year-old Karen has in abundance, along with a humbling lack of self-pity.

Bumps, falls, she has had them all – along with a nasty scar on her neck from one unceremonious unsaddling and a firm kick under the chin from one steed less gracious than her beloved Pearl.

Such is the price you pay for being Britain’s only blind show jumper - and Karen insists they are all more than worth it for the sheer unfettered joy of being on horseback.

‘I have loved horses all my life, but the very first time I rode Pearl I knew she was something special. I felt safe,’ she says.

‘She knows I have a disability and she’s so careful with me. Our relationship is growing all the time and I love her desperately - so much so that if I had the chance of getting my eyesight back or keeping Pearl, I’d choose Pearl.’

Of course, the bond between humans and horses can be profound, as the recent moving pictures of cancer sufferer Sheila Marsh being nuzzled on her deathbed by Bronwen, the horse she had raised from a foal, testified. Yet it is still an astonishing sentiment when you consider the extent of Karen’s disability.

Karen was registered blind 40 years ago but has refused to let it stop her becoming a successful showjumper

Karen says that her horse Pearl (pictured) understands that she is disabled and the two share a bond

Registered blind more than 40 years ago, she has one artificial eye and can see only vague colours and shapes in another one, and it is only sheer stubborn willpower that has stopped her taking on the guide dog to which she is entitled.

Instead, she relies on friends, and her own sense of direction to get her around – and every day throws up new challenges.

‘I’ve always tried to lead a normal life but it’s not always easy and I face a lot of struggles on a daily basis’ she admits.

‘I do have a cane but I don’t like to use it as I think it makes me look like a victim. But it does mean I can’t go anywhere new on my own.’

At home, meanwhile, even the simple act of making a cup of tea can be treacherous too. ‘I have scalded myself on more than one occasion,’ Karen admits.

An only child raised in Stockport, Karen was born with a rare ­condition, coloboma which meant her eyes did not develop properly. The problem was compounded when, aged two, a local boy accidentally bashed into her with his pram, causing the retina on her right eye to detach. Nine years later, in 1973, the eye had to be taken out and replaced with an artificial one.

Karen with her trainer Adrian Marsh who helped her develop her skills as a showjumper

She was registered blind the same year, although by then it had been clear for some time that Karen’s vision was incredibly poor. ‘I remember saying to my dad when I was very small that I couldn’t see to copy off the blackboard like the other children,’ she recalls.

Bullied by the other children in her class at school, Karen sought solace in her instinctive love of animals – and, in particular, horses.

‘I’d loved horses for as long as I can remember,’ she says now. ‘As a small girl I can remember waiting for the local rag and bone man to come with his horse and cart to pick up people’s junk.

'He had a beautiful big cob called Elvis and I used to go out and give him a piece of bread. I couldn’t wait to see him.’

There wasn’t much money in the family, but anxious to boost their little girl’s confidence, her parents Stan and Gladys scraped enough together to buy their, by then four-year-old daughter, riding lessons before, four years later a small windfall allowed them to buy her two ponies, Chester and Bluey.

‘It may sound odd given my problems but I think it was their way of trying to encourage me to lead a normal life,’ Karen says.

Yet even her parents were amazed by their daughter’s fearlessness: not satisfied with a gentle hack around the local park, the young Karen determinedly took part in gymkhanas, her father running alongside her shouting instructions as she vaulted over fences.

‘I was never scared,’ she says. ‘Jumping on the horse is the most amazing feeling in the world. It’s so exhilarating, it can only be described as Heaven on Earth.’

Nor did many people remark on her disability back then. ‘I didn’t draw attention to it, and I think a lot of people didn’t realise. Looking back I suspect even my own father didn’t understand exactly how little I could see,’ she recalls.

Determined to be self reliant, Karen was also determined to pay her own way, and after school she got a job in a hair salon, shampooing the clients. ‘I used to soak everybody through but they still gave me a tip,’ she smiles. ‘I think they felt a bit sorry for me.’

Two years later, she started work as a carer – a profession she has remained in ever since, latterly working for an eye clinic in Stockport. Yet while her income enabled her a degree of independence – she owns her own home - it was not enough to maintain the upkeep of her beloved horses, particularly against a backdrop of dwindling family funds.

Karen was unable to afford to keep horses but found a fairy godmother in the form of Emma-Jane Brown (left)

Former showjumper Emma-Jane was so moved by Karen's story that was determined to buy her a horse

‘Chester was very ill anyway and had to be put down when I was 15,’ she recalls. ‘Then we found Bluey a home with another lovely family as we couldn’t afford to keep him. I missed them desperately but I knew I had to do the right thing by them.’

And that might have been that, were it not for the strange vagaries of Fate. Ten years ago, newly divorced after a brief marriage in her 30s, Karen bought a new house and took in a lodger to help pay the bills. He happened to be a riding instructor, and after learning of Karen’s passion for horses became determined to get her back in the saddle.

And so aged 42, a full 27 years since she had last been on horseback, Karen tried it out once more at a local riding school.

‘The moment I mounted the horse it was like I’d never been away,’ she recalls. ‘I remember saying ‘’stick a jump up’’. I was just raring to go.’

Invigorated, she started visiting the stables whenever she could, encouraged by Pamela Rigby MBE, who runs a riding centre for the disabled in Cheshire, and her then trainer Michelle Anthony.

Both were impressed enough by what they saw to suggest that Karen contact British Showjumping, the sports governing body, to talk about competing in a para-showjumping event.

‘They were very encouraging but said it would be difficult for me to compete as I didn’t have my own horse,’ she says. ’It was a bit disappointing but I knew what they meant.’

Undeterred, Karen forged ahead, borrowing a horse from a local stable, and, in September 2010, she competed in an annual Showjumping Championship, alongside several other impaired riders, who suffered a range of disabilities, from loss of limbs to other severe health problems including multiple sclerosis to epilepsy. Only Karen, however, could not see – not that it stopped her.

Emma-Jane took on a series of challenges, including skydiving, in order to raise money for Karen

‘There were lots of jumps but we flew round, Michelle on a horse in front of me shouting the directions back,’ she recalls.

The judges were so impressed that they asked Karen if she would like to represent Great Britain at an international showjumping competition in France the following year. She did – and not only competed but won in her class, the Guided Blind. ‘When they played the National Anthem it was one of the proudest moments of my life,’ she says.

‘Mum had died a few years earlier and all I could think was how much I would have liked her to have seen it.’ Returning home Karen was put in touch with Adrian Marsh, a highly respected stud farmer and trainer in Cheshire, who agreed to train her whenever he could to try and develop her skills.

Yet there was still one thing lacking – her own horse. Instead, she had to ride whichever horses were available, whether ones liveried at the stable or being groomed for sale by Adrian.

‘I was hugely grateful I was being able to ride at all but without your own horse it’s difficult, you need to develop that bond to be able to take things forward,’ she says. ‘I did feel frustrated as I knew that I would never be able to afford one on my own.’

As it happens however, Karen had unwittingly found a fairy godmother, in the shape of former international show jumper Dame Emma-Jane Brown. Two years ago, Dame Emma met Karen at the Riding for the Disabled Association’s National Championships, and found herself so moved by her courage that she could not stop thinking about her.

Determined Emma-Jane raised £9,000 and surprised Karen by buying Pearl outright in May last year

‘When I realised she was blind I was intrigued beyond belief that she was riding never mind showjumping,’ Dame Emma, 51, told the Mail this week. ‘I was amazed by the trust she placed in her horse that wasn’t even her own. Driving home that night I couldn’t get her out of my mind.’

Moreover, she knew from chatting to Karen that her dream was to own her own horse – and decided to set about making it happen.

‘It’s such a wonderfully special relationship and I wanted so much for her to be able to experience it.’ It is a desire all the more poignant because of Emma’s own personal circumstances: 20 years ago she was forced to retire from showjumping at the height of her success after developing a violent allergy to horses.

She knows I have a disability and she’s so careful with me. Our relationship is growing all the time and I love her desperately - so much so that if I had the chance of getting my eyesight back or keeping Pearl, I’d choose Pearl

‘There’s always been a hole, something missing for me since I had to give up riding,’ she admits. And, after developing her own friendship with Karen and noticing the special bond she seemed to share with Pearl, she became determined that their relationship be put on a more permanent footing. Taking on a series of challenges including a skydive to raise the £9,000 needed to buy Pearl outright.

Karen, meanwhile, remained blissfully unaware of the plans afoot, only finding out for the first time when, in May, she was united with Pearl in front of a tearful audience at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

‘I honestly had no idea,’ she says, her voice quaking with emotion at the memory. ‘When I realised what it meant I thought I was going to have to be picked up off the floor. I couldn’t believe that finally I could have a horse of my own again.’

And not just any horse, but a horse with whom, as we have seen, she has already forged an unshakeable bond. Twice a week, Karen makes the four hour round trip from her home to Adrian’s stables to train, a feat which in itself requires enormous commitment and dedication: unable to drive, Karen has to take a bus, two trains and a taxi from her home to the stables.

Money too, remains an issue: while at the moment the £30-a-day livery costs of keeping Pearl at the stables are covered by Dame Emma-Jane’s charitable fundraising, the money won’t last for ever.

Then there are vets bills, not to mention the costs of competing – costs which could mount even more if Karen gets to realise her ultimate dream, which is to compete on Pearl in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

While at the moment blind showjumping is not a Paralympic discipline, both British Showjumping and the Riding for the Disabled Association are campaigning to get it included. Nothing would thrill Karen more than to lead the charge.