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Travellor’s
story
Travellor is a 23 year old Arabian gelding. When I met
him in 2002 he had been layed up for over a year. He was
an Endurance horse who had suffered a horrifying injury
at the 2001 Pony Express Ride. The Pony Express Ride is
a 2000 mile multi-day Endurance ride that goes from Missouri
to Nevada 50 miles a day over 40 days, covering much of
the original Pony Express Route. Travellor blew both front
suspensory ligaments due to his uncontrollable nature
and thick, heavy mud. By the end of the ride, his fetlocks
were on the ground. He had to be returned home to California
on a flatbed truck. All Veterinarians consulted agreed:
he had to be put down.
Travellor’s
miracle
This gelding was lucky enough to be owned by David Howe
M.D. Dr. Howe, referred to in J.J. and Sisko’s stories,
was not ready to just give up on his horse without at
least trying Prolotherapy. Prolotherapy literally means
to ‘proliferate’ or regrow tissue. A sclerosing
agent, consisting primarily of dextrose and lidocane (sugar
water & local anesthetic) is injected into the ligaments
where they attach to the bone. The response is a temporary
inflamation, (2-3 days) which causes scar tissue to form
as the inflamation subsides. The result is a solid tendon.
Dr. Howe, with the aid of a Veterinarian, injected both
front legs. Travellor was on his feet within days. It
was unbelievable. However, it was still believed he would
never be ridden again and he was turned out to pasture.
When I met him, as I said, he’d been out to pasture
for a year. He was starting to really look good. Dr. Howe
wanted to see if he could be brought back to service.
I started with very slow relaxing trail rides over flat
ground at the walk. I just rode him bareback for the longest
time, trying to keep competition and weight off his back
as much as possible. It was a miracle. He was going down
the trail! After a few short months, we started saddling
up and doing some very light conditioning. So far, Travellor
continued to look strong. Could he ever do another Endurance
ride? I continued on our program and Travellor kept getting
stronger and fitter. He had never looked better! The Manzanita
Ride was coming up, and he was still sound. I decided
to take him up the camp. I was competing in the Ride and
Tie in the morning and figured I could go out after lunch
and ride the second 25 miles of the 50 miler for fun.
I could take him through Vet Checks to monitor his condition
and utilize the course support without competing and see
if he really was back.
It was a gorgeous afternoon as we set out and Travellor
was excited, but moving forward down the trail nicely.
We hooked up with various riders taking it slow on the
50 miler. Travellor was so happy. I could feel it radiating
out of both of us. Other riders actually commented on
us, we glowed! When we crossed the finish line, I was
overwhelmed to tears. I collected myself and proceeded
to the Veterinarian for our completion exam. That Veterinarian
happened to be Barney Fleming D.V.M. Dr. Fleming had known
Travellor. He had seen his injuries and believed the horse
should be destroyed. As I approached, he recognized the
horse, and with a gaping look of awe on his face asked
me if he was Travellor, David & Terry Howe’s
horse. Just as I was about to say "YES," David
& Terry, seeing Travellor and I come in, were walking
up. Dr. Fleming looked at me, looked at Travellor, then
down at his legs, grabbed my Vet card out of my hand and
asked David incredulously, "What the #*@#$&*%~
did you do to this horse’s legs?" Then he turned
around before Dr. Howe could answer, and asked me with
equal disbelief, "Did you ride him on this ride?!"
and of course I responded "YES!" Dr. Howe went
on to explain how he gave Prolotherapy to his horse. That
was in Oct 2002, I proceed to take Travellor to an LD
ride in Santa Ynez the following May, and Bryce Canyon,
Utah in September that same year. Although we don’t
compete on him anymore, he still works around the ranch.
He weans the babies by being a mentor horse, he ponies
the young horses as they are start their training and
he still is my favorite bareback pleasure ride when he’s
not pulling my arms out of the socket to go FASTER.
Back to
Before & After |
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