Strictly on His Own Terms Will Faudree
his own ideals, to remind himself why he was there. “It felt great to be back at Kentucky,” Will recounts. “Obviously when I
A
broke my neck…you lay there in bed and wonder if you’re going to want to ride again—lots of things go through your head.” “I was very fortunate with the support I had with (horse owner, friend
and colleague) Jennifer Mosing and everyone at my barn. I never had pres- sure to get back and never had that fear of losing everything if I didn’t. That was a huge thing for me—it gave me a sense of security.”
A NEW DIRECTION Will was back in the saddle in 2016 and says it was a time to re-evaluate his goals, both with his horses and in his life. “I obviously love my horses and you don’t know how you’re going to feel when you’re back in the tack. Fast forward six months to when I got back: it was an Olympic year and I still had this drive and wanted to go. I had a successful spring season; I was back to the three-star level with both Hans Dampf and Pfun. But in the back of my mind I knew the Olympics wasn’t going to happen.” Will’s C6 and C7 vertebrae in his neck broke in the fall from Hans Dampf,
over a table fence on the cross country course at Five Points (NC). A surgi- cal team led by Dr. Melissa Erickson at Duke University Medical Center operated on two sections of his spine, fusing his C6 vertebrae to C5 and his C7 vertebrae to T1 to stabilize the injury. They were also able to relieve nerve pressure to restore feeling to the left side of his body which he lost in his left arm, hand and leg following the fall. He wore a neck brace for three months and started working with a physio trainer, Mila Harris, three times a week after four months. He still works with her today, but upped the schedule to five times per week. He is one of the lucky ones - he was back in the tack six months after the injury, and says he is mostly pain-free, but his neck aches on cold, wet days and is sore after strenuous activity. It was during this time that Will began reflecting on what drives him.
“I have spent my entire adult life doing this sport and I’ve spent my entire adult life chasing these teams,” he says. “After the Olympics I reflected on what it means to me. I was packing my trunk and looking at my pink coat, which I got in 2003 with Antigua when I went to the World Equestrian Games. It’s always been a part of my identity and it’s a great honor to have it. As a kid I dressed up for Halloween with a red jacket, and I was lucky to get the real thing at a young age.
Will and Pfun finish Rolex Kentucky 4* with a double-clear in show jumping— one of only four riders to accomplish that on this year’s difficult course.
Warmbloods Today 15
t the 2017 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Will returned to inter- national competition for the first time while sporting a “Jolly Roger,” or skull and crossbones, pin to remind himself to stay true
By Amber Heintzberger
Sometimes you’ve just got to live like a pirate. You’ve got to take charge of your life, do your own thing, and do it on your own terms. After breaking his neck in a riding accident in 2015, three-day eventer Will Faudree is embracing his inner pirate and riding his horses on his own terms, in a way that is fulfilling to him.
Allen MacMillan/MacMillan Photography
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