Beckey was in the main ring showing Arabian horses from the age of nine. She showed in Western Pleasure, Saddleseat, Ladies Sidesaddle, and Hunter Pleasure. She kept showing into adulthood and went to work for her trainer to offset some of the expenses. Sometime later, she ran into a friend of hers who was doing Endurance riding, and it piqued her interest. She found the perfect horse for Endurance and began a new discipline, including 25- and 50-mile rides working up toward her goal of riding the Tevis Cup 100-mile ride. Before she could accomplish that goal, her horse suffered a career-ending injury. Becky spent the next six months wondering what she was going to do.

Beckey got a call from a lady in her neighborhood who was selling four horses because she needed money. She had three mares and one gelding. Because the owner was close by, Beckey stopped in to see the gelding. She said he was scruffy and underfed, but very sweet and followed her around like a puppy-dog. Beckey was interested because of his personality. She talked to her vet, who also happened to be her employer, and asked her to give the horse a pre-purchase vet exam.

Beckey’s vet spent three hours going over Gunny; the name Beckey gave him. Gunny’s cheerful and friendly attitude got to the vet as well as Beckey. When the vet finished her examination, she told Beckey, “You’d better buy this horse, or I will buy him myself.” Beckey was surprised at that because the vet never owned an Arabian before. She negotiated the purchase with the owner and took Gunny home.

Beckey spent as much time with Gunny as she could when she got him home. They became an “item” on the farm. Gunny loved Beckey, and Beckey loved Gunny. She brought him back into good weight and had the vet out for vaccinations, and the farrier out to put his feet in good shape. It didn’t take long to bring Gunny from the skinny, scruffy horse she purchased up to the look of a show horse she was proud of and dearly loved.

Beckey had never done jumping with an Arabian horse before and thought it might be a fun thing to do. She engaged the services of a local trainer who did jumping, and Beckey also went back to school. Beckey was 46 years old, a bit older than most who start jumping horses. There are spills, falls, and a variety of things that can go wrong. Beckey and Gunny spent a couple of years working on it but never getting to the point Beckey could show him well. During that time, Gunny’s funny, goofy personality wormed right into Beckey’s heart. He became more than a horse. He was Beckey’s “heart horse” forever.

Beckey spoke to a few people and found Noelle. Noelle was a hunter/jumper trainer who worked with Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods. She’d never trained an Arabian before. Noelle fell in love with Gunny and his silly personality. She began working with Gunny to fix all the bad habits he’d developed, and began working with Beckey to fix her bad habits as well. Gunny had real talent when he wasn’t just goofing around. Noelle saw that and talked with Beckey about showing him at the Regional and National levels. Noelle knew Gunny was champion material through and through. Beckey, Gunny, and Noelle became a team with a goal. They set their goals high.

Beckey brought Gunny home for a few weeks at a time and tried to keep his training and conditioning up while he was at home. She enjoyed being able to spend more time with him, but he got a little lax in his efforts and spent more time playing with her than seriously working. She returned him to Noelle’s training barn to get his attitude back where it needed to be. They were looking forward to competing at the Sport Horse National Championship.

Beckey got that call at 5 a.m. one morning, every horse owner fears. There was something wrong with Gunny, and she needed to get to the training barn quickly. She hooked up her truck and trailer, thinking if necessary, she would haul him to the closest equine hospital. She also called her boss. She got another call from the training barn to let her know Gunny was not colicing but did have a nosebleed. She was about to drive her car over to Noelle’s when her boss called her back and told her to bring the truck and trailer, just in case.

The vet arrived just before Beckey got there. Gunny was suffering from a nosebleed, but it was not a simple nose bleed. It was more like a gusher. He was also showing signs of neurological issues that greatly concerned the vet. He was barely able to walk. Noelle. Beckey and the vet got him in Beckey’s trailer. Noelle, her three-month-old daughter, and her mother followed them to the hospital.

At the hospital, the vets took x-rays of his head. They didn’t show enough to satisfy them, so they also did an MRI. The diagnosis was grave. Gunny had broken a bone (basisphenoid bone) in his brain that put pressure on the optic nerve from his right eye and was allowing air into his spinal cord and brain. Beckey can’t talk about it to this day without breaking down in tears. The doctors didn’t have much hope they could keep him alive but were willing to try. The vets admitted Gunny to the hospital, and their doctors began working with him.

Beckey told me she got an early morning call from the hospital every day for the next three weeks. The doctor told her Gunny was still alive but could die at any minute. She spent as much time as she could visiting him in the hospital. Gunny’s goofy, loving personality won over every member of the vet’s team. They all brought him cookies and treats. His neurological symptoms began to improve. He was still blind in his right eye. The vets told her the broken bone put pressure on the optic nerve, and it might improve as the swelling in the nerve reduced over time. He wears a skull cap with a plastic bubble over the right eye to protect it. What they believe happened was Gunny was turned out and goofing around and most likely slammed his head into something that broke the bone in his skull. Gunny’s not talking.

After three weeks in the hospital, Gunny improved enough the vets discharged him and let Beckey take him back home. He was on strict stall rest for two months, and then his work could resume with care. Gunny beat all the odds. He thrived!

According to Noelle, “Gunny has more heart and more ‘try’ in him than any other horse I’ve worked with. He gives 100 percent effort when he’s asked for it.” She also thinks he gets better and better as he ages. “I know this is overused, but Gunny is like a fine wine that improves over time,” Noelle told me. She attributes the success they’ve had with him to the team spirit they developed between Beckey, Gunny, and her.

Nine months after the horrible accident that nearly killed him, Gunny competed at the Sport Horse National Championships. He brought home three National Championships and five Top Ten placings with both Beckey and Noelle in the stirrups. With Noelle, Gunny was named National Champion Arabian Hunter Hack. With Beckey, he was named National Champion Arabian Regular Working Hunter ATR, and Arabian Regular Working Hunter AAOTR. He placed in the Top Ten with Noelle in Arabian Regular Working Hunter Open and the Arabian Hunter Derby Classes. With Beckey, he placed Top Ten in the Arabian Hunter Hack AAOTR, Arabian Hunter Hack ATR, and Arabian Sport Horse Under Saddle ATR classes.

Gunny has continued his winning streak at the 2018 Sport Horse National Championship show with two National Championships with Noelle and three with Beckey, two Reserve National Championships with Beckey, and two additional Top Ten Placings with Noelle. At the 2019 Canadian National Championship Show, he earned two more National Championships, 2 Reserve National Championships, and one Top Ten placing. At the 2019 Sport Horse Championship Show, he won seven more Top Ten Placings. That gives Gunny a total of eight National Championships, Four Reserve National Championships, and thirteen Top Ten Placings at National Level Competition since his near-death experience.

Gunny is still blind in his right eye. That will probably be permanent for him. But it hasn’t slowed him down or affected his performance at the shows. He loves to compete and win. Beckey told me he goofs off during his workouts most times, but when he hits the showring, he’s all business. “He’s in it to win it,” she says.

Beckey told me, “I’ve never been around a horse like Gunny before. He’s sweet and loving and a big goof- off at the same time. He loves me. He loves Noelle as much as he loves me. It’s in my will that if something happened to me, he will go to her. She’s the only person I would trust with him. She understands him.” Noelle now has several Arabians in her barn jumping these days because of Gunny and their success with him. Gunny recently made an appearance in the Region 7 show ring with Noelle’s daughter in her first Lead Line Class. Beckey told me they will retire Gunny when the time is right. She will bring him home and keep him fit and healthy and doodle around on him for as long as it works for him.

I wish them many years and lots of love shared between the three of them