Is it Truly Te End? T
he news that a sport horse has sustained a “career ending injury” is typically followed by a whirlwind of emotions and questions. Usually the future looks pretty grim to ever tackle the competition arena again. But some people and some horses are not willing to give up so easily. The world our four-legged competitors live in is filled with science and technology that can help aid in recovery and rehabilitation from even the most serious of injuries. Love, patience and determination, mixed with a little science, medicine and various alternative therapies, can provide a surprisingly effective atmosphere for an injury to heal and a horse to return to doing what he loves. We found two sport horses with serious injuries, one jumper and one event horse, whose owners chose to do ev- erything possible to help their partners heal, no matter how long it took. In the end, both have seen amazing results.
WORLD-CLASS JUMPER | HIBERIA ROUGE Hiberia Rouge, a Selle Français mare, (Libero H x Tosca De
Revel x Kissovo) was brought to the United States from the south of France as an eight-year-old by Debi Connor, a Grand Prix rider and trainer based in Ocala, Florida. Around the world, Debi is known for her “eye” for athleticism. Her sales barn sees about 100 imported jumpers and hunters per year and many of her horses go on to top careers in the show ring. Hiberia was no different and, with Debi as her naviga- tor, she had a promising future as a Grand Prix jumper. The
A career-ending injury can defy the experts when a horse is given time to heal as well as state-of-the-art therapies.
By Laura McCormick
two quickly developed an intense bond and Debi could im- mediately see the potential in her mare. “Hiberia was difficult to ride but she was careful, fast and clean,” she says. Already a winner at the Grand Prix level in Europe, Debi started right off in the Grand Prix ring, here in the U.S. Hiberia gave it her all and was in the ribbons at every show she was entered in, up and down the East Coast. Unfortunately, in December 2009, Hiberia’s future in the
jumper ring literally came to a crashing halt. Both horse and rider had been selected to represent the U.S. team in the City League International Show Jumping Series, and the Grand Prix finals were to be held at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, Florida. Debi can still remember the events leading up to the moment when everything changed. “We were in the jump off, going very fast, approaching a bending line with a Swedish oxer. She slipped a little off the ground and her front leg hit the rail,” Debi recalls. Hiberia flipped completely over and her rider was thrown from the saddle in mid-air. Debi hit the ground face first and was knocked unconscious. Her husband, David, remembers Hiberia doing everything she could to avoid stepping on Debi as she desperately tried to pick herself up off the ground, using only three of her legs. As everyone around rushed to Debi’s side, waiting for the paramedics to arrive on the scene, Hiberia waited patiently for her own medical attention, holding her right front leg off the ground. “We thought for sure her leg was broken,” David says. While Debi was loaded on the ambulance and transported
to the trauma unit in Tampa, the mare was loaded on the trail- er and transported to Surgi-Care Center for Horses in nearby Brandon. Members of Debi’s team accompanied the mare to the clinic while David remained at the hospital with Debi. Hiberia was sedated and radiographs were taken of her
pastern, fetlock, carpus, radius and elbow. Miraculously, there were no visible breaks or fractures. However, upon ultrasound examina- tion, Hiberia’s official diagnosis was a com- plete tear to the right
Debi Connor and her mare Hiberia Rouge at their first show back af- ter the injury. The cold salt water leg spa at The Sanctuary.
26 September/October 2013 Warmbloods Today 26
Courtesy The Sanctuary
Lili Weik Photography, Ltd.
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