106 SIDELINES JANUARY 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Keely and Eddy Money competing at Pin Oak.
Photo by Shawn McMillen Photography
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An Unforgettable Journey
By Dani Moritz
Keely McIntosh has spent years showing and has
fond memories of many shows – from competing at
the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show in Texas to shows
in Colorado and beyond. The 20-year-old rider has
one show, however, that she doesn’t remember at
all.
Last year, while showing her horse, Eddy Money,
in the high junior amateur class at The Colorado
Horse Park, Eddy tripped after a jump and fell on
top of her. Even now, she has no recollection of
being hospitalized for several days, learning that
her brain had been bleeding for nine hours and
that she had suffered four cranial bruises. Luckily
she had been wearing a helmet – otherwise the
damage would have been far worse.
Even after being sent to her home in Texas,
Keely’s friends and family had to explain to Keely
what had happened each new day. Short-term
memory loss prevented her from remembering
any of it. So every day Keely awoke in a haze –
confused as to where she was – and unknowing of
anything that had happened.
Each day the scene was much like the scenes
portrayed in Adam Sandler’s popular romantic
comedy
50 First Dates
. Luckily for Keely, however,
she eventually regained her short-term memory.
She can now remember each new day – at least
for the most part.
“The memory loss is not as bad as people
imagine it because you don’t remember,” Keely
explained. “As soon as I got my memory back more
completely, or as good as it could be, it was a matter of it settling in. But, in the beginning, it wasn’t as difficult as people would think
because if you can’t remember it’s not going to be a huge deal.”
Keely laughs as she explains, “My friends came over a lot
and I think they were pretty entertained that we had the same
conversations over and over again, maybe at the end they were
a little annoyed.”
Although Keely was certainly happy to have her memory back,
she wasn’t thrilled to learn what it meant for her riding career.
Keely was practically born in the saddle and said her mom, Jenny
Booth, rode with her in a baby backpack. Keely was jumping at
five-years-old, so it was difficult for her to hear that she couldn’t
get back to riding as usual for about eight months. She started
sitting on a horse and walking a couple months in, and then she
slowly graduated to trotting. After six months, she was allowed to
canter and jump.
It ended up that her injury affected even more than her riding
career. It also affected her schooling. Because the accident
happened right before she started her freshman year, Keely had
to miss her first semester at Texas A&M University. “All of my
friends were gone, I had nothing to do but work all day long every
day,” Keely explained.
Luckily, thanks to dual credit high school courses and summer
classes, Keely is still on schedule to graduate with her peers. She
is currently a sophomore business student. To help stay on track
with short-term memory relapses, Keely records her classes and
keeps two planners – just in case.
Keely is happy to be back to riding competitively – enjoying
Keely and Eddy Money after winning the 2013 Pin Oak High Amateur Open
Jumper Classic.
Photo by Shawn McMillen Photography
