And while they work to get his competition levels up, the story of their journey together has been told with the release of their book Johno and 'The Blind Chick'.

Sue-Ellen, who was ranked fourth in the world at the 1999 championships in Denmark, retired her grand prix horse last year and was searching for a new one. And said she connected with Johno right away.

"I rode him once and there was just something quite magical about the combination of us," she said.

Although the match made in heaven was soon about to take on a life of its own. And it turned out that a lot of people were interested in "Johno's" perspective.

"I started up the page on Facebook, Johno and 'The Blind Chick', and posted about what we were doing each day and how we were getting him used to 'The Blind Chick'," Sue-Ellen said.

"We taught Johno to lead me out of the paddock and up to the pack shed, you'd saddle him up and we taught him to lead me out to the dressage arena - just like a guide dog. It was really amazing and he took to it like a duck to water.

"And as I was putting all of these bits and pieces on Facebook, Johno's gone from 20 followers to over 2,000. People write to Johno about what he's doing and where he's going - the interaction has been amazing."

The natural next step was a book. And Sue-Ellen said that telling the story from "Johno's" point-of-view gives herself the distance to be more frank and less self-conscious.

"His posts on Facebook grew into chapters. So from that, everyone who's friends with us kept saying 'you should write a book'," she said.

"And by Johno 'writing' the book he can be irreverent and talk about 'The Blind Chick' and laugh when she hits the fence with her white cane.

"He can share more than if I was writing it myself. It's from the horse's perspective and people get it.

"Because when you're blind and you start with a new horse, sometimes you start to think you can't do it. And I can share that through Johno, whereas it's hard to share your vulnerability if I was writing it as myself.

"And I tend to think that people aren't as honest if they're writing the book themselves, because you're worried people will think you're not very brave.

"But Johno can explain why it's hard when you're totally blind and you transition to a new horse. As well as explaining things like riding when it's sunny, in order to orientate me in the arena.

"And because I think I appeal to people who've probably lost a little bit of confidence, Johno gets so many messages that say 'I think of you everyday when I get scared about getting on, but 'The Blind Chick' is blind so I've got no excuse'.

"It's been really cool and we've made so many friends out of it.

"And it's been really nice, because with the timing of COVID, the fires and all of the sad and negative things, it was just a warm-and-fuzzy. It makes people smile."

The Bronze Medal Team member is also penning her memoir. And working with Johno to get him competing.

"My plan is to get back to international level dressage, back to SEI level, and Johno is two levels under that at Medium Advanced. And now things are opening up following COVID, hopefully we can get out and get a couple of competitions under our belt," Sue-Ellen said.

"Because it's not something that's a given, you have to go out and ride at that level you have to qualify. And my trainer José has taken things to a totally different level, because he gets the magic that Johno and I have."