As most people in the horse industry know all too well, the word ‘colic’ can never mean anything good. The word of intense stomach ailment falls on suddenly deafened ears, and we lose sight of everything going on around us, and feeling nothing but the fear of losing chances of our hopes and dreams ever coming true, or worse- losing our trusty partner-in-crime who’s more like a best friend.
Sherri McRae Soppit, however, is fortunate enough to tell a different tale. Hailing from Alberta, Canada, Sherri has been involved with horses since she was a kid. In her childhood, she enjoyed competing in rodeos and showing cutting horses. Like herself, Sherri’s daughter caught the “horse bug,” and upon getting her first horse, convinced her mother that she should show too. Sherri took off running in the world of AQHA.
Sherri recently returned from a successful run at the Arizona Sun Circuit held in Scottsdale, Arizona, one of the largest horse shows in the nation. To Sherri and her horse, this was a feat that just a few short months ago, was unimaginable. With some excellent vet care, and a couple of miracles, they came back to the show circuit with a bang.
It all started in August of 2013, when Sherri and her horse, Prepare To Be Dazzld, more affectionately known as “Griffin,” were en route to the AQHA Select World Show. Sherri stopped for gas, and checked on her horses. To her surprise, Griffin seemed to be acting funny, and needed veterinary attention. Fortunately, Sherri and her trailer were just minutes from one of the best surgical equine facilities in the Midwest. After hours of monitoring, Sherri received a call at 4 am from the vet suggesting they perform colic surgery on Griffin.
After Griffin’s surgery, Sherri had to leave Griffin behind to recover in order to take the rest of the horses in her trailer to the AQHA Select World show. Griffin was cleared to return home in late October, and finally made it back to Sherri’s on November 7th, 2013. Griffin’s return was only the beginning- “Looking back, I did not realize at the time that the colic surgery was going to be the easy part in this journey,” said Sherri. To Sherri and Griffin, this was Miracle Number One.
For Sherri and Griffin, the hits just kept on coming. Shortly after returning home, Griffin contracted a small hernia, but Sherri’s vets recommended she let Griffin continue to recover from the colic surgery before she try and have the hernia removed. Days later, Sherri noticed Griffin acting out of the ordinary again, and was told to bring him to the veterinary clinic for a culture. When the culture came back, the results stated that Griffin had a case of MRSA, a type of bacterial infection that can be extremely serious. Timing proved to be everything with Sherri and Griffin. Had she not brought him into the clinic when she did, Griffin wouldn’t have survived. Miracle Number Two.
Due to the MRSA, Griffin wasn’t able to undergo surgery to remove the hernia. The hernia became enlarged, but the vets assured Sherri that hernias don’t hurt horses the way they do humans, and Griffin could go on recovering. And he did. After contracting multiple cases of hives, and enduring numerous painful bandage changes during his recovery, on June 8th, 2014, Sherri saddled Griffin up for the first time after 10 months.
“The first 10 minutes of my ride was a little wild and there were a few grab the horn moments. But within 20 minutes he was jogging around the pen and I was grinning like crazy,” said Sherri, recounting her first ride back on Griffin.
Over the next several months, with the help of Kristy McCann, Sherri’s trainer, of McCann Performances Horses, Sherri slowly conditioned Griffin back to the level he was at before all of his medical hardship took place.
Finally, Griffin was back in shape, and the pair was ready to hit the road. What better place to start at than in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona. After almost two years of vet clinics and tedious recovery however, it is safe to say that Sherri and Griffin deserved their success at the 2015 Arizona Sun Circuit. Miracle Number Three.
“At one point I thought I was crazy going to that of a big show for our first one back but then I thought: ‘I don’t care we have to start somewhere’ and I was just happy to be there,” said Sherri. The Sun Circuit proved to be a success for Sherri and Griffin, as they returned with multiple top ten placings in the Level 2 Amateur Western Riding, one of Sherri and Griffin’s favorite classes to compete in together. Sherri recounted also that Kristy McCann came back with several points in the open level classes.
We are glad to see this team back in the show arena and wish them luck in the future.
