Bradley and Gabby quickly formed the same sort of special bond he had
found with Majee. I would often find him sleeping in the corner of her
stall or sitting on her back telling her stories about Majee. I never
worried about what he was doing because I knew he was with his new best
friend. They trusted each other and worked as one. Gabby had easily won
Bradley over with her attentiveness, sweet disposition and willingness to
please him. After only three months, the duo accomplished more than many
riders achieve in years--mastering the basics and tackling complicated
maneuvers, such as rollbacks and flying lead changes. Bradley confidently
looked toward the upcoming 4-H show season.
Bradley's special bond with Gabby saw him through the best and worst year
of his life. At 16, Bradley and his older brother Joshua, 18, were
seriously injured in an automobile accident half a mile from home. During
an unexpected ice storm, Joshua's car skidded and rolled end over end,
side to side, before landing in a neighbor's field. Joshua, still
conscious, was covered in Bradley's blood that gushed from a gash in his
brother's head. Apparently, Bradley's head broke the passenger window,
knocking him unconscious.
Joshua knew he had to help his brother or else he would die. Despite
agonizing pain, Joshua managed to free himself from the car. He collapsed
on the ground, unable to stand up. He bowed his head and asked God to
give him strength. He then managed to push himself up and run to the
neighbor's house before collapsing in their kitchen. The Life Flight team
was unable to take off in the ice storm, but rescue workers freed Bradley
from the mangled car. He was transported to the local hospital, where he
was stabilized before being transferred to St. Vincent Hospital in
Toledo, Ohio, by Mobile Life.
Bradley was listed in critical condition. His heart had stopped twice
during the ambulance ride. He had severe head trauma and possible brain
damage and was in a coma. The doctors told his father and I that, if he
came out of the coma, he would be mentally and physically impaired. We
were encouraged to bring a personal item to the hospital. So we placed
Majee's halter, which Bradley had slept with since her death, next to his
bed. We spent many agonizing hours sitting with him in the Intensive Care
Unit. By the grace of God, an experimental drug and the love of family
and friends, Bradley emerged from his coma in five days. A miracle had
occurred! Not only was he awake, but he was also talking! The first words
that came out of his mouth were, "When can I start riding again?" We were
ecstatic. Our prayers were answered.
We mistakenly thought everything was going to be okay. But, Bradley did
not remember the past year. We had to remind him of past events each time
he woke up for weeks afterward. Majee's accident was the most difficult
of these events to relive.
Bradley was finally well enough to return home. The road to recovery was
paved with many hours of rehabilitation, but Gabby proved to be Bradley's
best therapy. It tore him apart that he was still unable to ride, but he
spent hours each day with Gabby, sitting and talking. Gabby acted as if
she fully understood what had happened to him. Bradley was determined to
ride again, and only one month after his accident, he was riding Gabby on
a longe line. He recovered quickly and made great progress training
Gabby. Along with the usual gymkhana events, the pair mastered team
penning, precision riding and reining. The tragic experience brought them
closer than ever.
Comic Pair
After a while Bradley started taking trips into town. People in Delta got
used to seeing Bradley ride Gabby up to our local McDonalds drive-through
and ordering a Big Mac, fries and shake to go.
Gabby and Bradley became crowd-pleasers. The audience, went wild when the
duo entered the show ring, never knowing what the two would do next. For
example, in pole bending, if Bradley was off pattern or if he knocked a
pole down, he would entertain the crowd going back and purposely knocking
down the remaining poles. Bradley would wave to the crowd while the pair
took their bows.
Bradley, who was known for losing his hat during speed events, would
swoop down at a full gallop to retrieve it. Gabby, also a ham, decided to
upstage Bradley during one particular western riding class. Bradley's hat
fell off and landed on the ground in front of her. Without hesitation,
the mare eyed the hat, arched her neck, placed her foot on the hat and
ground it into the dirt. The crowd went wild. She wasn't finished though:
she then lifted her leg with the hat firmly stuck to it and shook it to
make sure everyone witnessed her antics before firmly grinding the hat
into the dirt again.
Gabby backed up, just as she was asked to, but the hat was still stuck to
her foot, so she dragged it backward firmly on the ground. A spectator
retrieved the hat. Bradley promptly placed it on his head before turning to
the judge for inspection, sitting perfectly poised on Gabby with a smile
on his face and a dirty, misshapen, inside-out hat on his head.
As the pair exited the arena, the judge made a point of telling Bradley
she was not only entertained, but also very impressed with their
performance, since they executed the best flying lead changes she had
ever seen. She was even more impressed when she learned that Gabby was
only 3 years old. Gabby pranced proudly around the show grounds with the
blue first-place ribbon fastened to her bridle.
That same year at our county fair, Bradley and Gabby won the Contesting
(gymkhana) High-Point trophy and competed in Versatility. The pair also
won the 1995 Harry Hughes Good Sportsmanship Award which honored Bradley
for his willingness to drop everything to help other 4-H members who were
in need, even if it meant missing or being late for his own classes.
The following year, Bradley and Gabby recaptured the Contesting
High-Point trophy, but this year there was a new addition--Gabby's
nursing foal, trotting alongside her. Bradley took on a new challenge and
joined his high school rodeo team, competing in calf roping, team roping
and steer wrestling. However, this wasn't exciting enough for Bradley; he
decided he really wanted to ride bulls (a mother's nightmare). He began
winning, and his love for bull riding grew. During his senior year of
high school he qualified to go to the National Finals Rodeo in Gillette,
Wyoming.
