For many horses, either a dangerous puncture wound or a rare muscular disorder could be career-ending, if not life threatening, but Wilde Hilde has a habit of defying the odds.
In the past three years, the jumper mare has staged unexpected comebacks from both those conditions, and now she’s headed to next week’s Gotham North/FEI North American Youth Jumping Championships, being held Tuesday through Sunday in Williamsburg, Michigan, with rider Haley Honegger, 14, to compete in the pre-junior division. Honegger is among the first group of riders named to receive the new USET Foundation Performance Pathway Grant.
The feisty 14-year-old Holsteiner (Cardino—Linda Vergoignan, Acord II) first overcame a 2022 accident in which she stepped on a roofing nail that punctured her hind hoof and narrowly missed her joint capsule. Just months after returning to competition from that injury, she was diagnosed with the muscular disorder myofibrillar myopathy, or MFM, while getting ready to compete at the Markel/USHJA Zone Jumper Team Championships (California), and yet again, she was on the brink of a career-ending health issue.
“It definitely was very hard for me, because she’s my heart horse, and having her out was very hard,” Honegger said. “I enjoy riding her so much, but I was just hoping that she would be OK. I didn’t really care if we could go back in the show ring. That would be the goal, if we could compete again, but I just wanted her to be happy and fine.”
A Wrong Step
Wilde came to the Honeggers’ barn in Elizabeth, Colorado, in 2020 from a connection Honegger’s parents, Alexia and Patrick Honegger, had in Switzerland. An all-around rider, Haley formed a strong partnership with “Wilde” after learning to adjust to her speed and way of going, and they found success in the junior jumper ring. Though they spend most of their time in the jumpers, they’ve done everything from herding cows to jumping cross-country.
“I definitely think that Wilde feeds off me a lot and that she’s the horse version of me,” Haley said with a laugh. “She can be very calm and snuggly, or she can be like a firecracker in the show ring, where she’s ready to go and will do anything.
“She’s really cool; she’s brave,” Haley added. “I definitely love riding her in the bigger levels, but also I’ve taken her swimming in the ocean and stuff. It’s really fun to have a horse you can go compete the big jumps on and then go chase a cow or something afterwards.”
“The mare really, really tries, and she takes care of the girl,” said her mother, Alexia. “She knows that’s her job is take care of the girl. And she’s got super heart. And anytime some new horses come in that Haley’s riding, she’s very protective over Haley, which is really quite cute.”
In August 2022 Wilde, who lives out 24/7, stepped on an old roofing nail in her field, and it punctured her left hind hoof. She had a corrective rim pad under the shoe on that side, and Alexia believes the pad helped save the mare from what could have been a career—or life-ending—injury.
“The nail got stuck on the pad, which is why it didn’t actually puncture the joint capsule,” Alexia said. “That’s what saved her.”
ADVERTISEMENT
She was out for several months but recovered completely from the puncture wound. A year to the day of that accident, Wilde and Haley earned an emotional individual silver medal in the children’s division at 2023 NAYC (Michigan). They also helped their combined team from zones 7, 8 and 9 earn bronze.
“It was a very special moment for me—my first year at Young Riders—it was a very proud moment for me, because my mare that I almost lost has now won a medal at NAYC,” Haley said.
A Sudden Onset
The pair spent most of 2024 jumping in 1.30-meter junior jumper classes and small grand prix classes and were at the Markel/USHJA Zone Jumper Team Championships (California) in October 2024 when disaster struck again.
Haley had just finished a warm-up round when she felt something wasn’t right with Wilde after leaving the ring. The mare seemed to be having a hard time moving—and then suddenly she couldn’t walk.
Haley managed to slowly lead her back to the barn, but once Wilde was in the stall, she started urinating blood and wouldn’t move. When veterinarians arrived, they pulled blood and gave her fluids. They determined she was tying up and going into kidney failure. The veterinarians got Wilde comfortable and on fluids for three days until she was able to be transported home.
Once home, Dr. Kelly Tisher, DVM, of Littleton Equine Medical Center, who treated Wilde for her hoof injury, did a biopsy and determined Wilde had MFM.
MFM is a genetic disease, with symptoms that are often similar to polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM). MFM affects the muscle cells of a horse, disrupting the alignment of contractile proteins called myofibrils. It presents most frequently in warmbloods and Arabians, and can look like infrequent episodes of tying up. In warmbloods, it often shows up between the ages of 8 and 10. Poor performance, unwillingness to go forward, poorly localized hind end lameness, sore muscles and drops in energy levels are common signs.
Alexia said Wilde previously had mild tying up episodes that resolved within a few minutes over the few years they’d had her, but she thinks that they were able to stave off a severe episode into her teens because of the mare’s lifestyle of living out and eating a diet high in protein and low in sugar, including alfalfa. After her diagnosis, veterinarians recommended a similar diet and routine and prescribed Kentucky Equine Research’s MFM pellet, which is high in amino acids.
“The biopsy was interesting, because it showed she was having consistent tie-ups,” said Alexia. “They could see that, like, a few days prior, she had had an episode, but she was just standing in the field. I think she was having them more often than we realized.”
MFM is not typically fatal, but many horses don’t return to being ridden. Wilde’s case has been managed by lifestyle, diet and medication. The Honeggers often have days-long drives to get to horse shows from their Colorado base, including this year’s NAYC, so they schedule more layover stops than usual to allow Wilde to get off the trailer and move.
ADVERTISEMENT
While Wilde’s prognosis was guarded, she returned to work over the winter. She and Haley competed at the National Western Stock Show (Colorado) in January.
It was an emotional moment for the Honeggers, who enjoy participating in the stock show’s kick-off parade down a main street in Denver. Wilde is level-headed enough to be ridden in the parade, following a herd of longhorn cattle.
“She’s the only horse that does the grand prix and walks down the parade,” Alexia said. “It’s a crazy parade, but we always ride—that’s kind of our thing.“
Haley entered her in a gambler’s choice class at the show to test out the mare’s progress over smaller jumps.
“It was really nice because they explained what happened to her and her story, and how she shouldn’t have come back, and she is coming back,” Alexia recalled. “The crowd got really behind Wilde, and it was a nice moment. And they interviewed Haley after she rode.”
Heading into this week’s NAYC, Haley is hoping for a strong finish with her “heart horse,” and Alexia is thrilled to see them both back in the ring. The family heads to Ocala, Florida, next where they’re relocating and starting over with a much smaller program.
“This will be my last time with zone 8—sad to say, but I’m excited, and I feel like we have a really strong team walking in,” Haley said. “I’m hoping we can place on the podium for team and hopefully be somewhere in the top for individual.”
The USET Foundation Performance Pathways Grant she received will help offset costs associated with transportation, entry fees, accommodations and related expenses for this year’s NAYC.
“I’m very, very grateful they were able to choose me, and it means a lot to me,” Haley said. “I get to go compete with Wilde this year at NAYC, and hopefully I can represent really well. It’s special moment for me, for sure.”
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.
