Tamra Smith’s first trip to Rolex Kentucky in April didn’t go quite as she’d planned. When her mount Chaos Theory jumped into the famous Head of the Lake, he landed on all fours, causing Smith to hit her pelvic bone hard against the saddle. She continued on around the course, unaware that she had ruptured two blood vessels and was bleeding internally.

“When we got to the Normandy Bank [several fences later], he felt tired, and I couldn’t give him any help,” she said. “I was hurting, but I didn’t want to stop. But he was tired, and I thought something was wrong with him, so I jumped off. That’s when I realized I had a huge hematoma.”

She had surgery that night and had to fly home a few days later, with her grooms driving her horse back.

“It was bittersweet,” she said. “I was so happy to be there and competing, but I was hoping to finish. It was a bit of bad luck. My horse was tired, and I couldn’t help him.”

A client and friend is now competing Chaos Theory, 18, at the preliminary level, and Smith has a paddock ready for him at her home when he wants to retire.

While her partnership with the Thoroughbred, formerly ridden by Jennie Jarnstrom, has ended, Smith has taken many lessons from him.

“I needed experience at that level, and he fell into my lap,” she said. “He’s tough, but he has the biggest heart and is the sweetest horse—but that doesn’t get you the results in the dressage arena.”

But that has made her ride on Bubbles At Brickey all the more exciting.

“Mark [Phillips] said you can have a horse with all the ability in the world, but is he rideable? If he’s not rideable, you’re not going to get the results you want. And now I have that horse,” she said. “It’s been nice to get on a horse that’s rideable. It’s neat to get rewarded for my hard work.”