navigate the course clear with no time faults. Debbie was ready to go as Al galloped out of the start box. “On cross-country, I had more horse than I’ve ever
ridden in my life!” Debbie recalls. “What a feeling! We missed the last element of the coffin complex and had our first stop ever. Al was horrified and you could tell he didn’t understand why we weren’t galloping right off. It took me a bit to get him back on task. It wasn’t until we finished that I discovered he’d done most of the course without a front shoe.” The missing shoe was replaced and the pair got ready
to jog again in the morning. Al passed again, and show jumping was all that stood between Debbie and a second complete Rolex Kentucky. They entered the arena ready to do the job. Al was on the top of his game, and he was the first of only seven horses to jump double clear around a very difficult show jumping course. The ovation that the pair received from the crowd as they exited was overwhelming. “It was the ride of my life,” she continues. “When Al
steps into the stadium arena, you can almost hear him say, ‘So nice of you all to show up to watch me! Thank you all for coming!’” Debbie had completed her second Rolex Kentucky, all while undergoing treatment for stage 3 breast cancer. It is a moment that eventing enthusiasts will
remember for years to come. For Debbie, though, the trip home was almost as special as the competition itself. “I love traveling with Al,” Debbie smiles. “He loves being on the road and he loves the shows. It was just the two of us on the way home and we hit terrible winds from Texas to California. In Palm Springs, it was so bad we had to pull over. We hung out in the trailer, which felt like it was going to get yanked off its wheels. He ate. I slept. It apparently was nothing compared to Rolex!”
WHAT’S NEXT? Debbie has no plans to stop competing after her inspiring run around Rolex this spring. “We’re going to Rebecca Farm in July,” she says. “Robert Kellerhouse is holding a CCI*** at Galway Downs in the fall. We are all so excited to have one on the west coast!” As for Debbie’s health, the treatments are going well,
and she’s looking forward to many years of cancer-free competition. “My last chemotherapy treatment was March 3, 2010,” Debbie says. “Radiation should end the beginning of August. I’ll be on a drug called Tamoxifen for five years.” “I’m told that I’m always smiling when I ride. It comes
naturally for me since I so enjoy every moment on a horse. Whether you have cancer or not, every ride is a gift.”
WT
Cross country in 2010. Photo by Amber Heintzberger
24 September/October 2010
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