Stephanie Danhakl remembers her 35th birthday well, and not just because it was the first one she was celebrating after giving birth to her son, Miles Raymond. Instead, the date—Jan. 26, 2022—is seared in her memory because of a phone call from her veterinarian.
“I was at the table, my parents were in town because they were visiting the new baby, and the vet called me and said, ‘I’m sorry, Stephanie, but you need to put your horse down,’ ” she recalled. “And I just—there were so many emotions going on at that time, and I said, ‘What do you mean? He’s supposed to be ready. He’s supposed to be almost healed from this. What happened?’ ”
Back in August 2021, at Danhakl’s final show during her pregnancy, her horse Tufton Avenue was injured. “Tuffy” was diagnosed with a fractured coffin bone and torn impar ligament. While it sounded serious, Danhakl was reassured that in six months to a year, he’d be back to himself. Her veterinary team predicted he’d be ready to resume work around the same time Danhakl would get back in the tack.
But instead, the veterinarian was calling to say that due to degeneration of the navicular bone, Tuffy risked a more serious injury to that leg if he took a bad step, and he recommended euthanasia. It was a tough blow for Danhakl, who’d unexpectedly lost another of her show horses, Enough Said, to a cardiac event in the pasture on Jan. 1. Now she was facing another painful loss.
After getting reassurances that his condition wouldn’t deteriorate so much in a few days that it was unwise to wait until she could book a trip down to Wellington, Florida, from Boston, Danhakl made plans to travel and say goodbye to the horse.
Within a week, she’d arrived at Rivers Edge Farm’s winter base, and when she approached Tuffy’s stall, she was met with a whinny and a bright-eyed expression.
“He turned his head over to me, and he just gave me this look,” she said. “And from that second, I knew that he had life back in him, and I didn’t care what anyone said to me. He was trying to tell me that he wanted to fight, and that he was going to be OK.”
She and her trainer Scott Stewart sought additional veterinary opinions, and a few said that, if she was lucky, they could get the Holsteiner (Spartacus TN—Pialotta VII, Caretino) sound enough to retire comfortably. Jennifer Feiner Groon, VMD, came up with a game plan to rehab Tuffy: In addition to the platelet-rich plasma treatments they’d been using to help stimulate healing, Groon wanted to get Tuffy more mobile—but in a controlled setting.
Initially the bay gelding was restricted to short handwalks, but after he’d made progress with that, he graduated to turnout in a medical paddock—heavily supervised because any shenanigans could exacerbate the injury.
Tuffy behaved, and within six months, he had made marked improvement. While not perfectly sound, he was able to trot in the field, and when Rivers Edge migrated back to Flemington, New Jersey, Tuffy was given 24/7 turnout. For the next year he received periodic veterinary examinations to monitor his progress, and those indicated that the affected bones had healed and stabilized.
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“We would get these videos of him going nuts in the paddock, bucking huge, rearing, running around, and he would stay sound,” said Danhakl.
With a green light from his veterinary team, Tuffy began an under-saddle rehab plan. As his workload increased, he remained sound. Ever since his initial injury, Danhakl had been wishing for the day she got to sit on him again, so her first ride back was emotional.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “By then actually I’d had another child, so there was all this time that’d passed, but he felt like the same Tuffy.”
A Particular Horse
Danhakl purchased the now-12-year-old gelding in January 2020 from Katie Cooper Curry and Katie Francella. Curry described him as a quirky young horse, the type who would spin away from the in-gate when he was already in the ring, was funny to get on, and who would be difficult to ride after a couple days off.
“I’d just take my time. I’d pet him a lot and try to give him confidence and try to do it his way enough that he would come to the party to do it our way,” Curry said. “So I felt very lucky to have such a special horse, and there were people along the way—people would see him [and say], let me know when he’s ready.”
When it came time to sell him, Curry knew it was going to take the right person to be his next partner. She’d spent a lot of time telling him he was a winner, and Danhakl was the kind of rider who could carry on that work.
“I think she’s got a great team there that can also understand that [you can’t push him] and do what’s needed, and I think that’s been key for his success,” Curry said.
Tuffy caught Stewart’s eye one day when they were both showing in the 3’6″ green division, and he told Danhakl she should try him. At the time, Danhakl was content with the horses she had, but she agreed to sit on him.
“It was an instant connection,” she said. “I think I jumped one jump on each lead, and then I felt comfortable enough. I said, ‘Just put the jumps up to 3’6″; I can jump him around.’ It was like I’d been riding him forever. We just basically bought him on the spot.”
The pair found immediate success, but then the pandemic disrupted the show schedule. Danhakl didn’t get to compete him at the top shows before his injury.
“I never gave up hope. I probably should have, but he was telling me that he still had it in him,” she said. “I still feel like we have a lot of unfinished business, and I want to show the horse world how truly exceptional he is, and that’s really important to me. He just so deserves it. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime horse, really. I just admire him so much and love him so much.”
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“I never gave up hope. I probably should have, but he was telling me that he still had it in him.”
Stephanie Danhakl
This February, after two and a half years away, Tuffy returned to the show ring in the adult amateur hunters. When that proved easy, they moved him up to the 3’3″ amateur-owner hunters. They kept his schedule light, but their consistency earned them a trip to Devon (Pennsylvania), where they were reserve champions in the 36 and over section.
While Tuffy still isn’t the most straightforward horse to ride, Danhakl said he feels calmer than he was before the injury.
“You’d have to be very careful around him, because he gets startled easily,” she said. “You have to move slowly. He’s a horse that it takes a very particular person to be around him, because he’s not just ‘go with the flow.’ He’s very particular, and he lets you know right away if there’s something he doesn’t like. And I think the thing about my relationship with him is that he’s the boss, and I’m just there listening to him. We have that kind of relationship where if there’s something he’s not happy with, I’ll just give him time. If he’s spinning around in the corner of the ring, I’ll just say, ‘OK, you can just wait here until you’re ready,’ and then let him go when he’s ready. I never try to push him to do what he doesn’t want to do. And he does it willingly eventually.”
This year, the pair made it to the fall indoor circuit, and they picked up the win in the WCHR 3’3″ Amateur-Owner Challenge at Capital Challenge on Oct. 3 in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, cementing Danhakl’s belief that she truly had her horse back. She gives full credit to the team at Rivers Edge for keeping him fit and sound.
“I’m very fortunate that I have such great care and so many people cheering him on and looking out for him,” she said.
This article originally appeared in the November 2024 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse. You can subscribe and get online access to a digital version and then enjoy a year of The Chronicle of the Horse. If you’re just following COTH online, you’re missing so much great unique content. Each print issue of the Chronicle is full of in-depth competition news, fascinating features, probing looks at issues within the sports of hunter/jumper, eventing and dressage, and stunning photography.
Do you know a horse or rider who returned to the competition ring after what should have been a life-threatening or career-ending injury or illness? Email Kimberly at kloushin@coth.com with their story.
