124 Days After Breaking My Neck, I Became a World Champion
By: Brittany Bevis
For 28-year-old Caitlin Gordon, just making the trip to the APHA World Show to compete was an incredible accomplishment. That’s because, just a few months prior, she broke her neck in a freak riding accident.
“It was our Thursday group lesson night, and I drew the short straw, so to speak. I was riding one of our mares with my English saddle, because I was leaving that Friday morning to go to a show in Missouri. I had just cleaned my saddle, and it was a little squeaky. Another gelding ran into the mare I was on, and she lost her balance. When she turned to gain her footing, the indoor wall was right there. My saddle slid to her left side, so I was pinched horizontally between the indoor wall and the mare.”
“I broke my C1, C2, T2, T3, T4, T5, and T7 vertebrae. I had the same injuries as Christopher Reeve, but a completely different outcome that I’m thankful for daily. If I would’ve ruptured my ligament, it would’ve been considered an internal decapitation.”
That first night Caitlin was laying in the neurological ICU, she told her mother that she still planned to compete at the APHA World Show, just four months away. To understand why this goal was so incredibly important to Caitlin, we need to go back a bit farther in her equestrian career.
“I was born into a horse family,” she says. “My parents, Jon and Missy Gordon, both showed Quarter Horses in the 90s with my Uncle Shorty and Aunt Kathy Parks. Prior to that, my father did Calf Roping and Team Roping, and my mother did Barrel Racing. I actually won my first Leadline Circuit award at a Michigan Quarter Horse show when I was 18 months old.”
“I grew up doing Open shows and 4H shows with the occasional local Quarter Horse show as a youth, and I showed two seasons in POAC. I started showing APHA in 2015 with a solid paint-bred horse in Amateur and Open All Around events. In 2016, I was the Reserve SPB Amateur All Around winner at the APHA World Show, which was my first World Show.”
With such a strong family connection to the horse industry, and many years spent rising through the ranks to compete at the World Show level, there was no way Caitlin was letting an injury stand in her way. But the doctors weren’t as confident as she was.
“I was told that I was lucky to be breathing and to be able to walk,” Caitlin says. “But, even in the Neuro ICU, with my halo on and my neurosurgeon telling me that horse showing was pretty much out of the question this year, I still decided I was going to the World Show with my gelding, Howie Dance. I was in my halo until May 13th, two days before pre-entries were due. I visited with my neurosurgeon on May 14th after receiving my cervical collar, and he told me that he still didn’t know if I would be able to show. I paid my World Show entries because I was determined that I was going to make the haul to Texas, even if just for Amateur Walk Trot Showmanship.”
Caitlin’s longtime equestrian partner for the World Show would be Howie Dance, or “The Great White,” an 8-year-old 17 hand gelding by Invited To The Dance. Her parents purchased Howie in 2018 for Caitlin to use as a step up horse to move from Novice Amateur into the Amateur division while her Hunter Under Saddle mare was being started under saddle. The original plan was to sell him after the mare had completed her training, but that clearly didn’t happen.
“This is our third year showing together, and I have no plans for him to go anywhere any time soon,” she says. “Howie is a very easygoing gelding who needs very little to no prep for shows. He’s definitely Mr. Reliable. He always brings his A-game to the show pen, especially when it comes to pattern classes. He’s definitely the horse that made me love Equitation. Our second favorite class is Trail. He loves it, and he definitely stands out with his size and color.”
Although Caitlin was confident in her ability to recover and prepare for the show, and she had a trusty horse by her side, it would be easy to understand why her parents might feel differently. But they were supportive from the first day Caitlin came home from the hospital.
“The day I was released from the hospital, my Mom took me right to the barn so I could see Howie. I wasn’t very much help at the barn, but my Dad drove me every day, multiple times a day, so he could still work client horses, our young horses, and do chores. Whoever said the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a person was definitely onto something. I spent 11 weeks in my halo and was thankful for every day I got to go to the barn, because it was a little bit of normalcy.”
When it came time for Caitlin to get back in the saddle, she was ecstatic and had no trepidation. “I was itching to get back in the saddle! I looked at my accident as just something that can happen. It’s no different than driving a car and getting into an accident. We try everything in our power to avoid any mishaps, but the longer we do a sport, the higher the chance of something happening.”
“I can say my confidence was a little down after riding a couple times, because that’s when I realized how much muscle I had lost and how tired I would get after just a 10-minute ride. I started to get worried if I would be back into my pre-accident shape prior to the World Show. I rode every day, even if it was 10 minutes, just working on the little things like making sure my chin was up and two pointing to get core strength. I paid for it every night and was icing my neck while binging Netflix.”
Caitlin typically shows in Novice Amateur and Amateur All Around events; but, because of her accident, she elected to compete in the Amateur Walk-Trot division. “I wasn’t physically strong enough to hold a lope together for long enough, and running in Showmanship wasn’t an option because my neck was still too weak. I had a difficult enough time just keeping my balance in Showmanship pivots.”
All of her hard work paid off when she went to her first horse show back on May 25th as a warm up for the World Show. She left for the World Show on June 27th, just a month later.
During the show, Caitlin and Howie were named the World Champions, Intermediate Champions, and NSBA Champions in Amateur Walk Trot Equitation. They also placed third in Amateur Walk Trot Horsemanship, eighth in Amateur Walk Trot Trail, 10th in Amateur Walk Trot Hunter Under Saddle, and 15th in Amateur Walk Trot Showmanship.
Caitlin was official cleared for physical therapy on June 24th, just a few days before she headed to the World Show. “I took it slow and listened to my body to make sure I wasn’t overworking myself too much.”
Caitlin’s plan for the rest of the 2021 show season is to continue competing in the walk-trot division until she feels she’s 100% ready to resume her traditional amateur events.
“My guardian angel was looking out for me that night. Like the saying goes, ‘Don’t ride faster than your guardian angel can fly.’ The World Championship was just icing on the cake. I won by being able to make the trip and to get to show in the John Justin.”
“My advice to anyone coming back from a horse-related injury is to remember the reason you started this in the first place. Do what makes you happy, and go at whatever pace you feel comfortable. The road will be rocky, and you’re going to face some setbacks, but that will make the comeback even greater.”
If you have a special story to share, email B.Bevis@EquineChronicle.com.
