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Riding With A Mission: Help Kids With Cerebral Palsy

Skeet Davis and his big Paint horse, Boomer, are on a mission — thanks in part to a North Escambia area veterinarian and farrier.  Although they are a competitive National Barrel Horse Association team, their hearts are devoted to helping kids with cerebral palsy. And now, they are working to raise funds for another saddle for kids with cerebral palsy.

Since 2004, Davis has been organizing benefit barrel races for United Cerebral Palsy, and every summer finds Skeet and Boomer at “Camp Smile” in Mobile, Alabama.  There they brighten children’s lives by giving every child a ride on gentle Boomer.  Equipped with a special custom-made saddle that provides increased support and security, these children — even those in wheelchairs — are able to experience the thrill of riding Boomer.

With the help of Camp Smile counselors, each child is gently secured into the saddle. Then Skeet leads Boomer around the campground, the horse stepping softly to provide smooth rides for his precious cargo.  For Skeet, the father of three, this work has special significance; his youngest daughter has cerebral palsy.

Two freak accidents nearly destroyed the Davis and Boomer goodwill efforts.  In October 2008, Skeet came home one day to find that Boomer wasn’t waiting for him at his usual spot.  Something was wrong.  Skeet found Boomer standing in the lane to the barn, and there was blood everywhere.  Boomer had been playing with deer outside his fence line and caught his foot in the one strand of barbed wire that Skeet kept strung along the bottom of the fence to keep the coyotes from catching ducks in his pond.  Boomer’s hoof was almost completely severed. Skeet immediately hauled his horse to Boomer’s vet in Grand Bay.  Dr. McCoy x-rayed the foot, cleaned it and surgically removed two barbs that had become imbedded deep in the foot.

Boomer’s accident destroyed Skeet’s hopes to ride him in the 2008 National Barrel Horse Association World Championships in Augusta, Georgia.  However, through the generosity of a friend, Skeet was able to compete on a borrowed horse.  But, Skeet’s problems had only begun.  On his second run in the show, a miscue between horse and rider sent Skeet crashing into the ground.  He had sustained what is called an “open-book”  hip fracture, one that kills more than 50% of it’s victims.  Fortunately, the horse show was only minutes from a major teaching hospital with a world-renowned specialist in pelvic fractures.  Skeet was in the right place at the right time.  Working quickly, the medical team was able to save Skeet’s life and repair his hip.  But, the severity of the injury was going to keep Skeet off horses for quite a while.

When Skeet was released from the hospital, he was determined to make sure that both he and Boomer were rehabilitated successfully.  By January of 2009, Boomer was still very lame from his injury and Skeet was beginning to fear that he’d never be able to ride his horse again, much less continue their commitments to helping children with cerebral palsy.

But, fellow barrel racers urged Skeet to take Boomer to the Lee Veterinary and Podiatry Clinic in Atmore, Alabama.  There, Dr. Hank Lee and certified journeyman farrier Jim LaClaire of Beulah have joined forces to diagnose and treat lame horses, combining astute diagnosis and surgical interventions with innovative horse podiatry.  Every Friday, the clinic parking lot is full of stock and horse trailers who travel to see the vet-farrier team from as far away as Tallahassee and upper Alabama.  Skeet hoped that something could be done for Boomer.

After examining the horse, the Lee Clinic team had an answer.  They constructed a therapeutic shoe for Boomer, filling in the lost hoof wall with epoxy.  They had essentially created a partially artificial foot to evenly support Boomer’s weight while his natural hoof wall recovered and regrew.  With his new foot and shoe, Boomer was ready to get back into action.  It took Skeet a little longer to heal, but now they are both back to barrel racing.  Best of all, they have returned to their mission of giving children with cerebral palsy a chance to ride.

Boomer’s recovery from his disastrous injury is testimony to the love of his owner and the cutting-edge experience of the Lee Veterinary and Podiatry Clinic.  As for Skeet, he’s doing what he’s always done; he makes plans and continues his mission.  Currently, he is working to raise $2,100 to buy another custom saddle, so that more these special needs children can enjoy the thrill of riding a horse.  Donations would be welcome; contact  Skeet Davis at (251) 401-7978. He and Boomer can be found at 14775 Burnham Road in Grand Bay, Alabama, 36541.

Story and photographs by Janice M. LeCocq, freelance writer and photographer, Century.