The owner of a horse who survived breaking his back in five places to win two British Dressage classes has paid tribute to his temperament, and the healing power of time.
Emily Westwood thought her 17hh Irish gelding Gentleman Bob would have to be put down when he got stuck under the rear bar of a trailer, three years ago. But on 22 May, they won a prelim and a prelim freestyle at Aintree International Equestrian Centre.
“He is a true miracle horse,” Emily told H&H. “We are super proud of him and what he’s achieved.”
Emily, an equine vet with Pocket Nook practice in Lowton, near Warrington, took Bob on when his previous owner, Emily’s friend Christina, died.
“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster,” she said.
“He settled in well, then we took him to a show with my other horse, and they had a bit of a to-do on the trailer. Bob thought it was a good idea to come out backwards and go under the back bar.
“I just remember saying ‘He’s broken his back’, because it was like a V. We eventually managed to get the bar off, and he got off, and his whole chest looked like it had exploded, that’s the only way I can explain it. We got him back, and I X-rayed him, and he’d done that.”
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Emily was sure Bob would have to be put down but on advice from another vet at Leahurst, he had a few months of box rest – and things looked promising.
“We started long-reining him because he’s got [equine metabolic syndrome] EMS and had had laminitis so we couldn’t leave him doing nothing,” she said. “We wanted to give him a chance, to be field sound, because he’d been through so much with his laminitis. We’ve got bald paddocks so I knew he’d always be able to go out and enjoy life.”
But Bob was sound, and showed no signs of pain in his back, and after a year, Emily got on board. When he stayed pain-free after a long time hacking, and to help keep his weight down, she started some dressage work.
“He’s done really well; I’m so proud of him,” she said. “We just thought we’d give him a chance, and he had a really good temperament, he didn’t mind staying in. And time’s a great healer, I suppose. We didn’t medicate it or anything, just let it heal, and now he’s living the life of Riley.
“Some horses have kissing spines, and it never causes them a problem. If one of our clients is panicking because they’ve got some [dorsal spinous processes] DSPs that are quite close, I always show them Bob’s X-rays, and say he’s managed to do this.
“I said this morning ‘I can’t believe he’s done that, after what’s happened to him’ – when I got back, I said to my other horse ‘Bob’s done this and he broke his back; buck your ideas up!’”
Emily said she still tags Christina in all Bob’s achievements, on social media.
“I think she would be super proud,” she said. “Her husband said her favourite music was Van Morrison so I asked Tom Hunt, who does our music, and he put a really good Van Morrison freestyle together. I’ll keep that music for ever and hopefully we’ll do well at the summers with it too.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
