April 2018

With Athena finally healthy and sound again, we went into training mode to get ready for worlds!

I worked hard on her canter, getting her to slow down and move her hip over. We continued to travel up to Dr. Meeker’s and had corrective shoeing done. They took such great care of us! I am very grateful for them!

I was sick a lot during the month of April. I was determined to work Athena, even though I had the flu on several occasions. All our work paid off though!

Towards the end of April we geared up for the Holiday Classic. It is the largest open horse show in North Carolina and usually has some pretty tough competition.

It was a little hectic at that show, but my husband was wonderful helping us with anything we needed. He stayed up with me late at night and was up early in the morning. He helped me hold Athena, helped coordinate crazy outfit and tack changes, got me good and water when showing, and was my right hand man. I couldn’t have made it through that show without him!

This show has really tough competition, and I am usually just honored to place. However we walked away with wins in the Walk Trot Canter HUS classes, Equitation Classes, and lots of top 3 in very large classes. I was over the moon! I just couldn’t believe it!

We tried our hand at some Working Western classes and placed a few times in classes with 20+ horses in it. One of my favorite show friends is Molly Stanfield. She is such a kind, supportive, amazing friend. I met her at a photoshoot and we instantly clicked. She is the Ranch Queen and it was so fun showing with her. We had a blast, and I was so proud of Athena!

We ended our first show of the season with a Reserve High Point Champion in the Huntseat Division! Molly ended up winning the High Point Champion in the ranch classes. It was a very successful show!

I had worked so hard on Athena’s canter and it was paying off. I was so excited for our next show, the Gold Ribbon Open Horse Show and was getting excited for Worlds.

At the end of April, I had to send in my entries for Worlds. It was SO exciting and nerve wracking! It started to feel very real (and very scary!).

At the end of April we had a terrible accident out on the trails. I initially didn’t post about it because honestly it was an exhausting and very traumatic day.

We were riding around the property like we regularly did. A friend and her horse was finally cleared to walk after rehabbing from a horrible leg injury. We decided to go a little deeper into the trails and missed a turn, bringing us a little too close to the road. Some really stupid people flew past us, honking their horns and revving their engines. Both Athena and my friend’s horse started spooking. My friend’s horse calmed right down but Athena was jumping all over the place, getting closer and closer into the road. Images of us getting hit flashed through my head, so I slid off and grabbed a hold of her. Both my friend and I started walking calmly back to the barn and since Athena was so tall and still a little antsy I decided to walk back with her.

We had been calmly walking for a few minutes when out of nowhere, Athena reared up, snatched the reins from me and took off. To this day we still have no idea what caused her to spook. We were still somewhat close to the road so I started panicking and running after her, begging her to whoa. We were a good mile, mile and a half or so away from the barn. Eventually she disappeared and I assumed she went back to the barn. My friend’s horse was recovering from a leg injury and could only walk, so I ran as fast as I could back to the barn. All horses run back to the barn, right? These were familiar trails, she surely knew her way back.

As soon as I got within sight of the barn I knew she wasn’t there. People were calmly riding in the arena. It didn’t look like they just caught a free horse. My stomach was hit with a weight, I fell to my knees and started screaming.

Athena was missing.

I yelled that Athena was loose, dropped my helmet and took back up the trails. I screamed for Athena and she was nowhere in sight. The whole barn started looking for her. I was hysterical. I just knew she was hurt. I was terrified she had been hit. It was by far the longest 30 minutes of my life. Finally someone drove up to the barn and told us there was a horse on the side of the road. We took off up the road and there she was, standing calmly in a cornfield eating some tall grass next to the ditch. It was a miracle she didn’t cross the ditch into the road. Cars fly through there, she would have been for sure hit. I jumped out of the Kabota as soon as I saw her and ran to her. Probably not the smartest move. I threw my arms around her and sobbed. We found her.

As I somewhat gained my composure, I started to think there was no way she wasn’t injured. I mean, why else would she just be standing there? She was almost home! I started checking every inch of her body, running my hands down her legs looking for swelling or heat. Drenched in sweat, she looked ok minus a very tiny amount of blood from the corner of her mouth. I counted our blessings and we headed back to the barn. I was still pretty shaken up from the whole thing.

We got back to the barn and we took off her tack and started cold hosing her. I slowly started gaining my composure again and thought how lucky we were. That is when I noticed she was playing with her mouth. My trainer said she probably stepped on her reins while running and to just rinse her mouth out. We started rinsing and that is when I saw it. Athena definitely stepped on her rein, and for some reason the leather didn’t break and instead the bit completely cut her tongue in half. From the middle of the jointed snaffle over, Athena’s tongue was sliced completely open. I started screaming and freaking out. My friends grabbed Athena and I lost it. I was so scared! I have never had a horse have an injury like that before and had no experience with it. My friends assured me mouth injuries heal quickly and it would be ok but I was pretty hysterical. Some people tried to tell me it was fine and that her tongue would heal on its own, but I wanted my vet to see it. There was no way I was not going to call him. I tried to explain what happened through sobs and he thankfully rushed right over.

He sedated her and opened her mouth. We finally got a good look and I just about passed out. Her tongue was literally cut in half. I started panicking again and started throwing out questions, like would she heal from this? Does she need surgery? Will she regain use of her tongue? How will she eat? Or drink? What are we going to do? Will she even be able to carry a bit again? Thankfully my vet was calm and assured me that although it looked really bad, it wasn’t a very serious injury and it happens more than I had thought. He assured me that she would be fine in about 10 days, and encouraged me to even begin working her bitless in 2 days or so. He went straight to work and put dozens of stitches in.

Then the guilt started to set in, all of the “I should have done…”. I felt so horrible at what happened, but my vet assured me that these accidents happen all the time and it was just that, an accident. He was kept assuring me it wasn’t that bad and she would be fine in a day or two. He told me not to put a bit in her mouth for 10 days, but I erred on the side of caution and waited about two and a half weeks. I told him about a horse show we had around the 10 day mark and he said there was no reason we couldn’t go, just take it easy with her mouth. We still went but I was worried about her mouth and we showed bitless that day (full details in the May update!).

That was such a horrible, horrible day. I was so stressed, upset, and just in shock over the whole thing. I didn’t even know how to write about it, so I didn’t. I worked diligently giving Athena her meds and going to the barn several times a day to rinse her mouth out with rinses recommended by the vet. I gave her extra days off and started riding her bitless around day 4 or 5. I was surprised how quickly her tongue really did heal! It was amazing. As horrible as that day and injury was, it was healed and over with before I knew it. Athena eats fine, drinks fine, and is back to normal.

Thank you for reading and being so supportive of Athena and I! Be sure to follow us on social media to be the first to get updates and news!