2024 Spring Show Poignant Surprise!
2022 Celebration
Two years ago, when I was sitting in the Ava spectator seats for Ranch Horse Day, I told my new (probably irritated) best spectator friends why I wasn’t showing in the Ranch Horse classes. I’d been showing in the prior Versatility events, and I knew they all missed me in the arena. While cleaning my horse’s stall the day before, I got dizzy and almost felt like I would pass out. That evening, my pulse rate soared to 200-240 beats most of the night. I did get some sleep and felt good the following morning. I asked Jenny Vaught if I should show. We all decided, perhaps not for the best.
After telling all the spectators my problem, a woman beside me turned and said, “I’m Bliss Meisner, an Emergency Room Doctor. I heard what you were saying, and YOU COULD HAVE A STROKE. You need to see a doctor.” I texted my son when I returned home and told him I could die any moment from a stroke. He was unable to respond. OK, you don’t usually die from a stroke, but I had yet to Google it.
When I went home, I made an appointment and was referred to a heart doctor. Turns out I have an irritating heart disease, AFIB. Many of us seniors will be affected by this. Medicine was prescribed, but I still had occasional episodes. AFIB causes exhaustion and the inability to breathe during and after activity. My most wonderful neighbor, Sharon, was riding one of my horses with me then. We take lessons together with Erin Patterson. After a cantering assignment, Fancy and I stood in a corner while I tried to breathe again. I still rode, and Sharon saddled, unsaddled, and groomed Fancy. I wouldn’t have been riding now if it hadn’t been for Sharon.
Fast-forward: I read about ablation, a heart operation that seals the place in your heart that causes the problem. I told the doctor I wanted one. He was pleased; thus, I was scheduled and out of the hospital the next day!
I had one AFIB episode after the operation and have been “clean” for almost a year. I got strong enough to saddle my horse, but occasionally, Sharon insisted on doing it (and I let her). I resumed riding lessons and trail riding but wasn’t in shape to ride in a clinic or horse show until:
THIS YEAR-TWO YEARS LATER-2024
We had a four-day Parelli clinic in my town, and I decided I was physically able to participate for half a day every day during the clinic. This was my first clinic in two years! I did have a fifteen—or twenty-minute breathing problem once, but my heart pulse only reached 115. (No more hour-long ground play for me.) Sharon could not attend the clinic, but I saddled and unsaddled Fancy myself. The clinic was over on Sunday, and the Spring Show starts Wednesday.
BIG SURPRISE!
Cheyenne Dunham contacted my friend Apryl Ballard and asked her to carry the flag for the Versatility show, but about two weeks before the show, Apryl’s horse cut her leg. I volunteered. Sharon and I even practiced carrying the flag. I knew Fancy was an experienced flag horse, but “prior and proper prevention prevents piss-poor Susan-Death.
My flag duty was scheduled for Thursday morning, and I was alive and healthy. However, I did have a breathing episode (my pulse was 115 again) at the stalls on Tuesday when moving Fancy into her stall.
Everything went great during the Wednesday classes except for the minor irritation of losing the fox trot during Western Pleasure. (I do not recommend not practicing the gaits for a week before the show. Darn clinic!) I also cantered past a cone where a stop should have occurred.
The big Thursday flag day arrived. Fancy and I were warmed up and ready for the flag. Sharon and I were the only ones in the arena who had no idea a big surprise would occur. I had the flag and waited for the announcer.
My name, Fancy’s registered name, and her 2023 Ranch Horse Reserve World Grand Champion title was announced. I marveled, but my marvel turned into astonishment. The announcer stated, “Susan’s son, Nathan Granner, is an opera singer and will be singing the National Anthem.” You can see my reaction in the mandatory video!
Everyone in the arena area but Sharon and I knew about the flag and Nathan singing. I called Nathan when I got home, and he told me the recording had been in process two months before the show! Good Lordy! SNEAKY VERSATILITY PEOPLE! No one leaked the secret!
I tried for two flying lead changes and got one. At my age, you only live once. GO FOR IT! The goal is being physically able to compete, not winning.
In the trail class, I ended the show day doing the spins to the left and to the right instead of the right spin and then the left spin.
I was proud to score the highest time in the barrel race when I decided my body and brain were finished. Sharon and I loaded everything up and left. About an hour before arriving home, the air conditioner stopped working in the truck. It was summer eighty-degree weather….SUFFER!
I am 78 years old, the oldest in Versatility classes. I remember showing with Sally Scott and being stunned when I learned she was in her 70’s. Now I am!
It took me four days (maybe four weeks) to fully recover.