A horse rider whose world was turned upside down when she broke her back is now hoping to walk down the aisle.

Eventer Claire Lomas was paralysed from the waist down when she was thrown from her horse, Rolled Oats, in a competition in Nottinghamshire two years ago.

The 29-year-old has been following an exhausting physiotherapy regime in her fight to prove her doctors wrong and walk again.

Claire, of Eye Kettleby, near Melton, was on holiday in the French Alps when boyfriend Dan Spincer proposed.

She is now practising extra-hard in the hope she will be able to walk down the aisle when they get married next year.

She said: "I keep improving, little by little. I have to use a chair still, but as part of my rehab I'm taking steps at home.

"I hope I can walk down the aisle. I don't want to say I definitely will, because I don't want people to be disappointed.

"You think you've got a lot of time but it'll go quite quickly. But I hope I can."

Claire recently took up the sport of mono-skiing – sitting on a single ski blade using two smaller ski blades for balance.

Dan, a 34-year-old research scientist, lives in Southampton.

Claire said: "I'm very lucky, I didn't think I would meet anyone again. I'm very excited about the wedding.

"We met through the internet and it was the best £20 I've ever spent. It's a bit of a long-distance relationship, but he's here every weekend. We met a year ago when he travelled up here. We have a lot in common, he has ridden a little bit. He has a pilot's licence and he's very sporty."

The couple are hoping to marry at Oakham Castle next March, followed by a skiing honeymoon in Lech, Austria.

Claire said: "I'm planning to do more skiing, I'm hooked. I'd like to crack it and I'm going to do it.

"On the last day of my last trip I went skiing independently and it was the nearest thing to eventing I had done since the accident."

Claire has also been back on a horse and may consider trying to qualify for the Paralympics in 2012.

She said: "I could aim for it, but it's a long way to go to be up to the standard of doing it and, in any event, with the wedding next year, there's a lot to plan."

Claire is teaming up with former Tigers star Matt Hampson, who was left paralysed after suffering a spinal injury in 2005, to stage a hog roast at Eye Kettleby Lakes on June 20.

The event will include a bucking bronco competition, bungee run, silent auction, live music and disco.

Proceeds will go to the Matt Hampson Trust, Spinal Research and Claire's own campaign to help with her rehabilitation.

Tickets cost £15 and are available to order by stamped, addressed envelope to: Claire Lomas, The Chestnuts, Eye Kettleby, Melton, Leicestershire, LE14 2TD. Cheques should be made payable to Claire Lomas Walk Campaign.