TWO of Bermuda's disabled riders will fly the flag at the World Dressage Championships for the Disabled in Het Zilveren Spoor, Moorsele, Belgium.

Paralympic veteran Kirsty Anderson along with fellow disabled rider Sandy Mitchell will compete in the respective grades at the championships from September 2-7. And Andersen, who rode at the Atlanta Paralympics in 1996 and the Sydney Paralympics in 2000, said these World Championships will be a strong test ahead of the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.

And for the first time ever at a major championships, the riders will be bringing their own horses - in Anderson's case a mount which had been trained by her coach Carol Green at her riding facility in Wales. Mitchell will be riding his own horse which is also based at Green's facility.

"These championships are going to be very tough," said Anderson yesterday before flying out tomorrow for the UK. "It is great that we will be able to ride our own horses but you also have to remember that riders from the UK will be on Grand Prix horses. They have been funded heavily by their national lottery so the horses they will be on will be absolutely world class."

Over 130 top disabled athletes from 36 countries will participate at the Worlds. And for many of them these championships are very important, because they are the qualification competition for the Paralympics in Athens 2004.

Bermuda's chef d'equipe, Ann Lindroth, who has been working with Mitchell and Anderson for a number of years, said the riders will be bringing grooms from the UK for the competition. "It is going to be tough because there are 68 spots for the Paralympics in Greece up for grabs," said Lindroth.

Anderson will be riding in the toughest Grade 4 while Mitchell will compete in Grade I which is for the most severely disabled riders.

Anderson said: "There are 40 riders in my group so it is really going to be a test. It is the highest number ever in these championships."

The actual competition is over three days. "The first day is the warmup while the second day is the Championships Test and the third day is to music," said Anderson.

And she is planning to use the music which she rode to during the Atlanta Paralympics. "I keep using the same music because it works. It is a compilation of three songs - the theme song from St. Elmo's Fire, the theme song from Beverly Hills Cop and the theme music from Top Gun.

"With the walk I use the music from Top Gun, in the the trot I use the music from Beverly Hills Cop while in the canter I use the music from St. Elmo's Fire. In all it last about five minutes."

While many countries will be using this Worlds as a qualifier for the 2004 Paralympics in Greece, for Bermuda it will be a little different. Anderson explained: "While our scores might not qualify us for the Paralympics in 2004, we can apply for a wildcard which is for any country which has less than four (disabled) competitors. But my understanding is that in order to remain a member of the (World) Paralympic Association, we have to compete in these World Championships." After Anderson arrives in London on Sunday morning she will make her way to Green's facilities in Wales where she and Mitchell will train for a week before travelling with their mounts and grooms to Belgium. "We will have four days of training once we get to Belgium before the championships start," said Anderson.

And while she expects the championships to be more competitive because of the fact that riders will be bringing their own personal horses to the competition, Anderson said that the "unknown factor" will have been taken out. In previous championships, all riders were on borrowed horses producing a more level playing field.

Anderson has been competing in dressage since 1994 "but I started riding when I was a little girl".

In Bermuda she trains with Ann Lindroth's mount Central Carolina who is known more for her jumping ability. "But she is very nice," added Anderson.

At the Worlds Anderson will be riding Higham Fanfare while Mitchell will be on Sir Oliver IV.

A spokesperson for the World Dressage Championships for the Disabled said: "Every rider must try to compensate as much as possible for the limitations of his or her disability. Especially for the Grade I riders this requires a lot of perseverance and courage, because they have little balance. The rider-horse combination is then is very important, by which they must be optimally attuned to each other."

And it was that thinking that led to the change whereby the riders bring their own mounts to the competition. The spokesperson said: "It is an important step onwards that these days everyone rides his own horse even on international championships. Until Sydney this was not the case and by lottery hired horses were appointed to the riders. One had to be lucky to get a fine horse, but in the end wasn't able to show truly his or her worth. A disadvantage of course is that the use of own horses makes the participation to international championships more expensive. It is also a fact that the quality of the horses becomes increasingly more important, which evidently also has its financial repercussions. These high quality horses are of course very expensive."

The programme for the championships will see on September 2 the official opening at the Hippodrome in Waregem during The Grote Steeple of Flanders. The foreign delegations will be being driven up in carriages and introduced to the press and the public. On Friday September 5, there will be the team event while on Saturday will be the singles event with Sunday being the frees style to music.

The closing ceremony will see a performance of the Trompettenkorps (Trumpets Corps) of the Royal Escort of the mounted Federal Police.

During the games dressage specialists will provide commentary to the tests. Through a intercom, which can be used individually, one will be able to listen to commentary by, among others, David Hunt of Great Britain and Colonel Christian Carde, former Ecuyer and Chief for "Cadre Noir de Saumur".

The Paralympics will be staged from September 17-28 in 2004 in Athens. There will be 4,000 paralympic athletes from about 130 countries, as well as over 2,000 team officials.

About 3,000 media representatives will cover the 2004 Paralympic Games while approximately 1,000 technical officials and 15,000 volunteers will provide assistance.

The event will also be attended by 2,500 members of the Paralympic Family (representatives of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the National Paralympic Committees).

The Paralympic Games will be held at the same Olympic Venues which are provided with the necessary facilities to accommodate the athletes and spectators. At the same time, the infrastructure is being upgraded in all cities so as to ensure their accessibility to all.

In order to establish equitable practices, athletes competing in the Paralympic Games will, for the first time in the history of the events, not have to pay any participation fees. In addition to abolishing the fees for the first time, Athens 2004 is the first Organising Committee for the Olympic Games which, operating under a unified management structure, will be responsible for organising both the Olympic and the Paralympic Games.

Equestrianism is one of the most impressive sports of the Paralympic Games. It also contributes to the rehabilitation and improvement of physical skills for people with a disability. Equestrian is a multi-disability sport. It is unique among Paralympic sports since men and women compete on the same terms and horse and rider are both declared Paralympic medal winners. Equestrianism at the 2004 Paralympic Games will only be fore dressage riders. The competition will be held at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre, in sand arenas 20m wide and 40m long and 20m wide and 60m long. Dressage will be held over six competition days, between September 22-27.

At the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games the medallists included:

Lee Pearson, Gold medals in the Grade I Individual Championship Test and in the Freestyle to Music Test. (Great Britain).

Joop Stockkel, Gold medal in the Grade II Individual Championship Test and Silver in the Freestyle to Music Test (The Netherlands).

Nicola Tustain, Gold medal in the Freestyle to Music Test, and Bronze medal in the Individual Championship Test (Great Britain).

Julie Higgins, Gold medals in the Grade III Individual Championship Test and in the Freestyle to Music Test (Australia).

Jayne Craike, Gold medal in the Grade IV Individual Championship Test (New Zealand).

Team Results:

Gold - Great Britain.

Silver - The Netherlands.

Bronze - Norway.