Catie Fairchild of New Castle, Indiana, showed halter and western pleasure because she was afraid of getting hurt in rodeo events. Her friends were cowboys, and she was finally convinced in the fall of 2006 to try her hand at barrel racing. She found her calling.       

Catie and her new horse King Leo Zero Bar, a 20-year-old gelding, were leaving their mark in the Indiana High School Rodeo Association. The pair was very successful in their first season and were impatiently waiting for the spring season to start when an accident nearly ended their career. 

After riding her future breakaway horse, a 2-year-old filly, Catie was leading her through the barn when the filly spooked. She lunged forward, knocked Catie down and then ran over the top of her. Catie said she could feel her back break.

The cowgirl tried to tough it out, but cat scans don’t lie. Her eleventh vertebrae was crushed and several others were fractured. The doctors told her there was a possibility she would never walk correctly again and she was advised to stay out of the saddle.

“I wasn’t going to let their diagnosis be true,” Catie said.

Only three months after her injury, Catie got back on “King” in time for the first 2007 spring Indiana high school rodeo.  She was not the same person though.

“I used to be so careless (around horses), now I am very cautious,” Catie said.

She said if it hadn’t been for King, she never would have had the courage to compete again. Catie said King sensed something was wrong and changed his personality to take care of her.

“He used to be a really chargy horse,” Catie said. “Now he is very gentle. He really takes care of me.”

Catie and King competed at the Ford AQHYA World Championship Show in the barrel racing and stake race. Although they didn’t qualify for the finals, Catie said she is just happy to be here.