Equestrian captain seeks to emulate blind father
Whenever South Carolina’s Amber Henter is unsure of whether she can complete the goals she’s set for herself, she looks to her father, Ted Henter, who has not let blindness stop him from accomplishing anything during his life.
Ted lost his sight in a car accident 35 years ago and has never seen Amber or her two older sisters. Ted could have accepted his disability as a hindrance, but instead focused on something that would help all blind people.
Amber, a sophomore from St. Petersburg, Fla., has used her father’s inspiration to get herself into rare territory on the equestrian team.
The Equitation Over Fences rider is only the second sophomore in 15 years to be named a captain.
“When I found out I was going to be the captain, I just decided to take it on as a leadership role,” Amber said. “Instead of thinking of it as I was only a sophomore, I decided I should just step up and be the leader for the team.”
At the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., Amber’s mother, Mary Henter, developed software called JAWS, which enables computers to “talk” to blind people. That is, the computer reads off whatever appears on the screen, allowing blind people to read their emails, among other things.
Ted and Mary sold the software about ten years ago, but the program is now in over 20 countries.
Amber said she was never able to fully appreciate her father until she was older, but now understands what he means to her and her siblings.
“Knowing what he has been through and how he has overcome so much stuff; him and my mom have really stuck together through thick and thin,” Amber said. “My sisters and I look to him for advice and inspiration and motivation for all that we do.”
Amber’s equestrian career started at the age of four when she first got on a horse. She fell in love with the animal and wanted to learn all about horses. When she was 12, her parents bought her a pony that would take her “really far and win a lot of stuff.” It was at that point that Amber knew she wanted to make a career out of riding horses.
“I knew that I wanted to move up to bigger stuff, like horses, and really build my career, starting from ground level and working my way up learning everything,” she said.
Amber has now worked her way up to being one of the SEC’s elite equestrian riders in just her second year of action. She has the best Equitation Over Fences record in the SEC at 6-0 and was recently named SEC rider of the month, along with freshman teammate Kelsey Urban.
Last season, Amber had to adjust to the college game, but still managed to compile a 12-8 record. With an entire year of experience and knowledge under her belt, she has blossomed this season.
“We knew she would be good,” coach Boo Major said. “She’s got that determination that if something’s not right, she is going to figure out what’s not right and try to fix it. She applies that to her riding, to her team, to her academics, to everything.”
Ted comes to Amber’s events when he can, but hasn’t been able to make one this year because he and Mary now spend some of the year in Panama. Amber said her dad will probably come to the NCEA National Championship in April.
“I’m not sure he enjoys it that much because he can’t see, but it is nice to know that I have my family supporting me and want to watch me succeed,” Amber said.
Amber was highly recruited coming out of high school, and heard about South Carolina from a friend who used to be on the equestrian team. After her visit to Columbia, Amber knew that she wanted to do what she loved and “what better way to do that than to go to school for it.”
Major said that she really enjoyed getting to know Amber’s family and knew she would be successful anywhere she went.
“We were certainly thrilled to find her when we did,” Major said. “She was not our discovery, she was somebody everybody was after.”
Amber and her teammates ended the first half of the season with at No. 1 in the National Coaches Poll and are confident they can continue the run when play starts up again in February.
Amber said because of her dad’s courage, she feels like the sky is the limit.
“If I’m ever doubtful in what I can do with my goals and inspiration, he is always there to remind me that anything is possible, no matter what gets in your way.”