FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES JANUARY 2014 107
Keely and Accordance at a recent grand prix at The Texas Rose
Horse Park.
Photo by Patrick Devine
every second in the saddle. Of course, you won’t find her without
her helmet – whether she is jumping, working on the flat or even
just walking around bareback.
Keely insists, “Even if you ride Western, I still think a horse can
trip at the walk. Anything can happen. I really think not wearing a
helmet is selfish because if something happens to you, whether
you realize it or not, it’s going to affect those around you even
more than you.”
Keely would know. Nearly a year after the accident, Keely’s
short-term memory continues to affect her life – and the lives of
those around her. She says she doesn’t know what she would do
without her friends. Because of the fall’s impact on her memory,
Keely says she is always forgetting things. Her friends are the
ones who come to her rescue.
One of her friends, Izzy Carroll
,
is a working student for Keely’s
trainer Liza Richardson
.
“I don’t know what I would do without her,”
Keely said. “Basically every time I’m out riding I lose my gloves or
my helmet and she’ll tell me where I put them.”
Thanks to the support of her friends and family, Keely is working
through any issues the accident caused and is back to competing.
She is especially looking forward to returning to The Pin Oak
Charity Horse Show held in March as a competitor and volunteer.
“I love the atmosphere at the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show. It’s
the best show in Texas,” she said. “Everyone is so nice and it’s
always so fun.”
Last March, she returned to Pin Oak after her accident and,
despite having a break in her competitive riding, she secured her
place as champion for both weeks in the high junior amateur open
divisions on Eddy.
“There are no words to describe the feelings I had winning
those two classics. All of the pain, the waiting and the struggles
finally paid off and I felt like my injury could no longer hold me
back,” she said.
As for her career goals, she plans on concentrating in marketing,
and she’s not sure whether she will keep her amateur status or
pursue a professional riding career.
“I always wanted to graduate, get a job and stay an amateur,
but I’ve come to realize it’s really difficult to be an amateur and
get a job and ride at the level I ride at,” she said. “So, being a
professional and getting a barn is starting to look more promising.”
Regardless of which path she chooses, Keely is just thankful
that she can now remember the journey.
