The day before Father’s Day, on June 15,1991, the Ketchum family was driving home from dinner about two or three miles from their home in Michigan when a drunk driver struck their car creating a devastating accident.
Brooke’s mom, dad, and brother sustained life-threatening injuries, and the family was split in two as Brooke’s father and brother were transported to one hospital and her mother and her to another.
Upon arrival and examination, it was discovered that Brooke had sustained a life-changing injury of her own. Her spinal cord was severed at T-6 and T-7 leaving her permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
Brooke was just five years old.
The Road to Recovery
Brooke was then flown from Flint to Ann Arbor, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, a hospital that specialized in her type of injury. Meanwhile, her mother, dad, and brother were still hospitalized and unable to be with her.
“My Aunt Sue was the very first to stay with me,” said Brooke. “But everyone in the family took turns staying so I wouldn’t be alone. My Aunt Sue was there every day since she lived the closest.”
Brooke’s brother was the first to be released from the hospital and he went on to stay with another aunt. Six weeks after the accident, he and Brooke’s father moved into a place specifically for families of patients at Mott’s.
Brooke shared that two weeks later, when her mom came to join her father and brother, that she asked her mother a very important question.
“My first question to my mom was if I would ever be able to ride my pony again,” she said. “She answered. Yes.”
While most kids might be worried about walking, running, or climbing, horse-crazed Brooke only cared about riding.
“I had my pony before the accident and one time the bus missed dropping me off,” smiled Brooke. “I refused to ride the bus again unless my mom promised me that she would wait at the end of the driveway with my pony. And she agreed. My pony was my life.”
Which made sense since the Ketchum family has a long standing connection to horses.
Brooke’s grandfather raised Standardbred race horses and Brooke and her brother were involved in the local 4-H.
Brooke stayed at Mott’s for three months and her recovery consisted of both physical and occupational therapy.
“My physical therapy consisted of stretching my legs; how to transfer in and out of my wheelchair; every day encounters, like how to navigate a curb or stairs; and, then, later on, I learned how to use braces to walk in,” said Brooke. “My occupational therapy consisted of learning how to do everyday things, even the smallest of things, like how to get dressed and how to put socks and shoes on.”
Once she was released from the hospital, Brooke set out on her mission to ride her pony again.
“I did a lot of therapy riding programs,” she said. “Eventually, I showed Hunter lead line on the Pinto circuit, and the older I got the more I wanted to do on my own. My mom found a blurb in Horse and Rider about a roper in Texas who was also in an accident and paralyzed and made his own saddle. His name is Randy Bird, and he made my first saddle. It was basically like a regular saddle but with a high back and a belt that you velcro.”
The Beginning of Something Great
With a saddle that meant she could ride independently, Brooke went on to show a little half-Arab mare in open shows.
“I even taught her to sidepass with the help of my friend, Marjie Olson,” she said. “I had Marjie push on her side while I jiggled the right or left rein depending on which direction I wanted to go. She eventually caught on.”
Like any dedicated equestrian, Brooke said she wanted to show more competitively following the half-Arab mare.
“We bought Miss Otoe Impress, a quarter horse mare, and I did walk/trot on her at open shows. She was the horse I learned how to lope on,” she said.
When Brooke was sixteen, her mom, Teri, was showing on the PtHA circuit, and they searched for what felt like an eternity to find Brooke the right horse.
“We ended up buying Ima Stuck Zipper (Mitchell – pictured left) when I was seventeen, who belonged to Spike’s (Brewer) sister and he was my first real show horse,” she said.
By this time, Randy Bird had made Brooke her second saddle, as she was growing and wanted more of a show saddle as she was becoming increasingly competitive.
She showed Mitchell in both western pleasure and showmanship.
In 2004, Brooke and Mitchell attended the Pinto World Show and came home with a 7th out of 71 horses in the 14-18 Showmanship and placed Top Five in the 14-18 Western Pleasure. They also secured a Top Ten in Ideal Pinto Western.
In 2005, they were honored as Horse of the Year in Open Western Ideal Pinto Stock Type Horse.
Despite Brooke’s unprecedented success, she decided that the way her saddle was designed was affecting her riding ability and decided to take matters into her own hands.
“Between the high back and the belt, it was affecting my rhythm,” she said. “So I decided to lose the belt and cut the back in half. My brother helped me make the changes.”
Eventually, Brooke and Harris Leather and Silverworks worked together to build her first a work saddle and then a show saddle after they worked out the kinks in the work saddle.
“They found a seat back from an old car at a junkyard that they attached to the back for support and there are leathers to tie my feet into the stirrups,” she said.
Brooke continued, “For me, anything with horses is a lot of trial and error. I have to try a lot of things to find out what really works and be patient.”
Among the things that Brooke has tried and have worked is first and foremost, a trusted use of a series of voice commands.
“I cluck once for walk, twice for the jog, and kiss for the lope,” she said. “I also lean the opposite way of the lead I am trying to pick up.”
She has also used a short crop but things really came together on a trip to the Tractor Supply Company where she spotted a cattle show stick.
“I started using that as a spur,” she said. “And then my brother cut the ends off a set of spurs and welded them to a piece of metal. So now I use a combination of the show stick and those. The stick is more for keeping the horse loping and having the ability to lift up their belly and keep them from hollowing out.”
As Brooke matured into an amateur, Teri went on to try the hunter under saddle, and found Brooke a three-year-old that Wade Spell had that she thought would be perfect for her.
“Some people may think that sounds crazy given the circumstances,” she said. “But like I said, everything is trial and error and when you find something that works, it just works.”
Brooke purchased Just a Zippin SMF, affectionately known as Festus, in 2006 and showed him in Springfield, Ohio at an APHA show in the western pleasure in late April. It was their first show together.
“We made the finals,” she said happily, “It was a huge show.”
Brooke and Festus went on to show at the Pinto World and made the Top Ten in 2006.
“I kept him at home so I could ride every day,” she said. “Then Wade would help me at the shows.”
Like for many young amateurs pursuing higher education, Brooke’s show career slowed way down while she attended Michigan State University seeking a bachelor of science in Animal Science and Kinesiology. She graduated in 2010.
Living the Dream
Currently, Brooke’s personal show career is on hiatus, but her involvement and love for horses (particularly Paints) is forever strong.
“Right now, I am really into breeding and I ended up buying, Zippin With A Splash, as a broodmare,” Brooke said. “I enjoy riding but I don’t have to show. I love playing with the babies, turning them out, and watching them grow.”
The horse Brooke currently rides is My Investments R Good, known as Miley.
“I ride pretty much every day,” she said. “It’s good for my legs, keeps up some muscle tone. My brother is usually the one who lifts me up.”
A daily routine for Brooke is always to clean stalls and turn the babies out.
“Sometimes I help my mom with her shoeing business depending on the day,” she said.
And while Brooke’s story is both inspiring and incredible, there is one more piece of the puzzle to put into place.
This year, Brooke’s two-year-old, Want Me Don’t Cha, a two-year-old gelding sired by The Gift of Midas and out of Miss Shadow Page, and affectionately known as Justin, had an impressive APHA World Show.
First winning the Farnam Two-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle Stakes, the gelding went on to clinch the Reserve Champion title in the Gold Breeder’s Futurity, and was third in the Open Two-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle with Laura Spell in the irons.
“I can’t even put into words what this year’s world accomplishments mean to me,” said Brooke. “He is just an incredible horse and I am so lucky to own him. This has all been so amazing and exciting!”
Brooke purchased Justin in June from Deanna Williamson.
“He kind of acts like a toddler on the ground,” she laughed. “But he is very sweet. He’s curious but nothing really bothers him.”
Brooke shared that Laura has said that Justin is easy to ride and her hopes are that her mom can show him in the future.
As for Brooke, she said that she may show at the APHA World Show in the future, but right now she is relishing Justin’s wins and having fun with the babies at home.
We don’t blame you Brooke, many congratulations!
