Point Clear: A Story of Comebacks

Foy Barksdale and Point Clear. Photo by Brant Gamma and used with permission

We all know with horses that things can always change.  We make plans in pencil and end up erasing and re-writing about 10 times before we know it.  Some horses are just so amazingly tough, that they just keep coming back to play this game that they love so much.  

Point Clear, or Louie, is a lovely chestnut Irish TB that was born in Ireland where he steeplechased.  He was later bought and taken to England where he competed through the Preliminary level before being imported to the US by Peter Green.  Adele Baker of NC bought him with the idea that he would be her Advanced horse.  She competed him for a few years, doing a lot of long format CCI* events, as that seemed to be his cup of tea.  Unfortunately, Louie and Adele were not the best match.

Enter Foy Barksdale.  Foy was leasing a mare and things fell through.  She was heartbroken.  As she sat sobbing in her office one day, her boss, who also rides, took in the situation.  He came in the following day and told her that his wife, Adele, had a horse, Louie, for sale.  If he didn’t sell that weekend, Foy was more than welcome to come out and try him.  As the stars aligned, Louie did not sell, and Foy fell in love when she tried him.  “When I got on him, I just got this feeling like he was telling me, ‘Relax and I’ll show you the ropes.’  It was such an amazing feeling.”  Adele agreed to allow Foy to lease Louie for awhile before actually purchasing him in May of 2002.  It was the perfect situation.

In 2002, Foy and Louie did their first Novice together at Fort Bragg and finished 4th.  They continued on at Novice for a bit and ended up on the Novice Leaderboard 2 or 3 times.  They moved up to Training and were just as successful.  Louie knew his job and loved it.  Foy says, “Louie is a completely different horse when he competes.  At home, I’m constantly having to kick.  At a show, he puffs himself up to 2 or 3 times his size and just shows off.  He loves it.”

Foy and Louie at the Loudon HT. Photo used with permission

When they made the move up to Prelim, Louie had a stop on the cross country.  By this time, Foy had really gotten to know her horse, and she knew something was up.  Louie would only stop if he was in pain or Foy was sitting upside down and backwards in the saddle.  She had the vet out to do a workup on him.  Sure enough, his shoulder lit up on the bone scan.  The diagnosis was bursitis.  Foy dropped Louie back, and they set out to get his shoulder fixed.

Once things were sorted out, Louie and Foy moved back up to Prelim at Pine Top and placed 2nd.  They continued at Prelim for a bit, until wrenches started flying into the gears.  Louie seemed to have problem after problem: colic surgery, severe chokes with aspiration, kissing spine, and a suspensory tear.  Each time, Foy wasn’t sure if she would ever get to compete him again.  The vet that diagnosed his kissing spine did not think he would ever be rideable again.  After consulting with Dr. Susan Johns, Foy realized that Louie’s spine would be manageable.  Once they got that sorted, Louie tore his suspensory.  This seemed to be the last straw.  Dr. Johns was sure that Foy would never do more than hack him after this.

Foy was sad, but she wanted to do the best by her boy.  She didn’t have the money to do major treatments, as his insurance had dropped him due to all of his previous ailments.  She was boarding at Cindy DePorter’s place at the time, and they decided to give him a small paddock to hang out in rather than keeping him on complete stall rest.  Foy says, “By this time, Louie was 18.  The vet didn’t think he had any chance of competing again, and he was so unhappy in his stall.  We figured it wouldn’t be bad to let him out into a small area.”

That winter, Foy got a call from Cindy, “It’s snowing here, and I just saw your horse do a beautiful 10 meter circle at the trot in the snow.  He was completely sound.”  Foy immediately called Dr. Johns for a visit.  Sure enough, much to Dr. Johns’ surprise, Louie’s suspensory looked amazing.  She cleared Foy to start him back slowly.  By the fall of 2011, Foy decided to take him Novice at Pine Top, but Louie just didn’t feel like himself.  He wasn’t pulling her arms out like he normally would.  Again, she decided that maybe it was time to retire him.

Louie and Foy at Five Points. Photo used with permission.

Last fall, some of her friends decided to compete at in the Novice ATC’s at Virginia.  The Virginia Horse Trials is an amazing event and a lot of fun, thus being one of Foy’s favorites.  She decided to try to get Louie fit enough to do it.  She worked hard, as Louie was 20 years old, and she wanted to be sure he was the fittest he could be.  The hills at Virginia can be quite taxing, and he was an old man.

All of her hard work paid off.  Louie knocked Cindy over to get on the trailer to go.  He was ready to play again.  They went to the event and won the division as well as their team winning the ATC for Novice.  Foy couldn’t believe it.  Her boy was back and letting her know that he wasn’t ready to quit yet.  He could at least continue on at Novice.  Foy has decided to shoot for the Novice 3 Day at the Heart of the Carolinas event in May of this year.  She did her first event of 2013 this past weekend at Full Gallop.  Louie came out ready to go.  He won his division on a 25!

Foy and Louie definitely have one of those bonds that make this sport so worthwhile.  Louie’s dry sense of humor always keeps Foy on her toes.  He loves his job and doesn’t care what level he’s doing, as long as he gets to compete.  It’s been a struggle for Foy to decide when to officially retire him, as he just keeps coming back for more.  She is sure that when he is ready to quit, he will let her know.  Until then, they will keep having fun together!

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