After the trip back to California, Debbie gave Al a
well-deserved break. At the end of July, Al was back in top form when he finished seventh in the CIC*** at the Event at Rebecca Farm. 2009 was shaping up to be one of Debbie and Al’s best seasons when she received the news that would put the rest of the season on hold.
DEVASTATING NEWS
When Debbie went in for her annual physical, her doctor discovered a lump that had gone undetected in a recent mammogram. Her doctor ordered an MRI, which revealed that Debbie had Stage 3 breast cancer that already spread to three of her lymph nodes. “I have a bit of experience with cancer, so my first
Their final jumping phase at the 2010 Rolex KY. Photo by Amber Heintzberger
farm to see the horse in person. Al did not disappoint. “His previous owner, Jackie Blackman, told me
later that as soon as she saw us together, she knew we belonged together,” Debbie recalls. “She was right and I am a very lucky girl.” Al made the transcontinental trip to live with Debbie in 2006 and the two began their career together with a strong finish in a Preliminary class. Debbie and Al formed a strong bond from the beginning, and even today, she can’t help but smile when she talks about her partner. “He’s a very affectionate and playful horse on the
ground,” she says smiling. “He plays a mean game of hide the feed tub, and he is great at stall guard limbo…he did it twice at Rolex! He lets me ride him most of the time. The rest of the time, I end up on the ground! I’m still working that part out!”
CLOUD NINE Debbie has had many successful competitions in her tenure with Al, but a few stand out in her memory as special. “In 2006, we finished second in the CIC*** at Rebecca Farms,” Debbie recalls. “But we finished right behind my student, Tory Smith, and her horse Bantry Bay V. Now that was cool!” But the one competition that stands out to Debbie is
completing her first Rolex in 2009 with Al. The pair finished 25th out of a field of 50 starters. “It was the definition of ‘peak experience’,” she recalls. “I can still almost remember the cross-country step for step as I replay it in my head!”
22 September/October 2010
reaction was ‘crap!’” Debbie recalls. “The seriousness of it unfolded rather slowly, so I didn’t have the entire picture until after surgery. I cried a bit when I figured out my hair was going to have to go; I had just started to have good hair! But I got over it. Wigs are much better than my hair genes anyways.” Debbie needed immediate treatment to save her life.
She enlisted her brother to help her through the surgery that would begin a new chapter in her life: the road to recovery. “I told my brother first who lives in Rome,” says Debbie.
“He was, and is, amazing. I waited until after the surgery and the final pathology, another two weeks, to tell my mother. My brother flew out to do that with me to keep her in line, he jokes! I think having all of the information at once really helped her deal with it.” After the surgery, Debbie still needed to undergo chemotherapy to give her the best chance at a full recovery. “Chemotherapy started in November—six rounds, one every three weeks,” Debbie reports. “About two weeks later, my hair started to fall out. No, not just fall out. It literally dies on your head! It was really disgusting, so I shaved it off.” “Fortunately, after the first treatment, the side affects
are predictable,” she continues. “I worked the day of infusion, Day 1—and the next, Day 2. Since I mostly had the bone pain side-affect as opposed to nausea, for example, on Days 3 and 4, it hurt to blink. I just hung out those days. I was back at work on Day 5 and fairly normal by Day 7, although I didn’t ride as many horses as I did before I started chemotherapy. Day 21 it started over again.” Throughout her chemotherapy treatments, Debbie
tried to keep her spirits up by focusing on her work. It wasn’t easy, but Debbie found ways to keep going, even through the pain. “It wasn’t the riding that bothered me as much as the walking,” she recalls. “I am accustomed to walking several
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