Last month, at a sanctioned hunter/jumper show held at Fox Lea Farm in Venice, Florida, 14-year-old Ryan Haselden suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while competing. Miraculously, she survived—despite the fact that fewer than 10 percent of people who arrest outside of a hospital setting do—because this venue flawlessly executed its emergency response plan, had qualified medical personnel ringside, and an accessible automated electronic defibrillator on site. 

As both a former sanctioned horse trials manager and someone who has been first on the scene at a medical emergency, this scenario hit close to home for me. I had the opportunity to share the story of Haselden’s survival with Chronicle readers, and in speaking to those close to the situation—including her father, Will Haselden, who bravely recounted to me an experience no parent should live through, and Dr. Karley Koch, DO, a hospitalist who jumped in the ring to assist EMT Katy McPhee in resuscitating Ryan—it is clear this is a seminal event that should inspire positive change in our industry.

No one wants to think about the variables that can make the difference between life and death, but when you take the time to do so, there often is a lot to learn. In Ryan’s case, if she had been almost anywhere else when she went into cardiac arrest—schooling at home, having a dance party with friends, or competing at a venue where an AED either was not available or not maintained—we would likely be mourning her loss instead of celebrating what promises to be a bright future for a talented, ambitious young woman. 

And Ryan’s situation wasn’t the first: Back in 2012, hunter rider Liza Dennehy was sitting on a horse, chatting with her father and coach Wilson Dennehy in a warm-up ring at the Capital Challenge Horse Show (Maryland) when, like Ryan, she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest—a medical event that happened while sitting on her horse, but unrelated to riding. In her situation, an off-duty EMT and two doctors who were nearby quickly joined the show EMT and began CPR, while show manager Oliver Kennedy called for an ambulance and for the show’s defibrillator to be sent to the ring. After two rounds with the defibrillator, Liza’s pulse returned. She later had surgery to correct what she called “an electrical shutdown.” And now, every year, she celebrates that day as her second birthday, Kennedy recently told one of my colleagues.

So let’s talk about what went right for Ryan and Liza, and how we can use this information as a tool to make equestrian activities safer across the industry.

Currently, hunter/jumper is the only U.S. Equestrian Federation discipline that requires AEDs to be available at shows, but Fox Lea has had at least one at its venue even before it became a rule. Fox Lea owner Kim Aldrich Farrell shared that once she learned during a CPR class how greatly chances of survival increased for a cardiac arrest victim with the use of an AED, it was an easy decision to purchase one for her show grounds. This foresight deserves special acknowledgment.

The USEF “strongly recommends” competition managers have an AED available, regardless of discipline. But what about at boarding stables or lesson barns—where equestrians spend the majority of their time with horses—or schooling shows, which do not fall under the auspices of a national governing body? 

Although AEDs have become commonplace in office buildings, sports arenas and shopping plazas, I suspect they are far from typical at most equestrian centers. Purchasing an AED is an investment—certified refurbished models can run between $500 and $800, and new ones can cost as much as $2,500—and they need to be maintained in accordance with manufacturer’s recommendations. However, I suspect that families like the Haseldens and Dennehys can give us all one good reason why such an investment is well worth it.

Another variable that went right for Ryan and Liza was that everyone on scene knew what to do and how to respond, from the moment each rider fell from her horse. 

USEF-sanctioned competitions like Fox Lea are required to create something called an emergency response plan as one of the criteria to maintain their license. These plans are meant to address incidents ranging from the everyday (injury or illness of horse or rider) to uncommon (evacuation) and even unprecedented (COVID-19). They detail the who, what, when and how of responding to emergencies at the show. Of course, it isn’t possible to anticipate every scenario, but the plan at least provides an outline for show staff and officials to follow when the unexpected becomes reality.

In truth, the exercise of creating an emergency response plan is a good one for anyone in our industry who coordinates equestrian gatherings of any type—schooling show organizers, boarding and lesson stable managers, clinic or camp directors. The process forces you to think through the types of resources and logistics necessary to address an emergency and hopefully spurs you to make any changes that would be required to implement the plan successfully. But unless you are mandated to create a plan by a governing body or other regulatory agency, it is easy to let such an activity fall to the bottom of a busy equestrian’s to-do list—meaning that when things go wrong, no one knows what to do. Even just a few moments of delay in the commencement of CPR and further medical care can drastically change a patient’s outcome.

Finally, I have been particularly inspired by Ryan’s parents, Will and Lindsay, who are already working hard to create positive change in the greater Alpharetta, Georgia, community where they live. Just weeks after nearly losing their only child, the Haseldens are collaborating with the Wills Park Foundation to provide a CPR/AED certification workshop; they hope this will be just the first step in a series of similar programs and outreach opportunities across the country.

But let’s not leave this up to the Haseldens alone. CPR/AED training is accessible, affordable and generally takes no more than a few hours. There is no reason why barns, equestrian organizations and other related stakeholders shouldn’t collaborate to regularly offer this potentially life-saving educational opportunity to their clients and members of all ages. 

Although the women who resuscitated Ryan were both medical professionals, Koch made it clear that this is not a requirement to be successful in giving CPR or using an AED. In fact, the American Heart Association says that children as young as 9 can safely and effectively perform CPR. In a related article, experts share that even preschoolers can be taught how to respond if they find someone unconscious, and kindergartners have successfully followed the prompts of an AED to save a life. All it takes to potentially change the outcome for someone experiencing an acute medical emergency is one person who knows what to do.

In the late 1980s, the American Red Cross launched a public service campaign that ended with the tagline, “At last, Help came, and Help knew what to do—in times of emergency, are you Help?” That campaign was why I, as a middle schooler, completed my first CPR course. Clearly, their message has stayed with me over the decades, and in light of reporting on this story, I find myself today asking this same question of myself and others. Let’s not sweep the lessons learned from Ryan’s potentially tragic emergency out the barn door—instead, let’s use it as a clarion call to take tangible action.