06/28/2026
Update on Charlie- all good news!
We made it to Billings by about 1am and they had her in surgery by 3:30. Everything went well and she should make a full recovery!
Everyone everywhere in this process has been beyond amazing, from the EMTs in Bison to the doctors and staff in Hettinger, everyone here in Billings, and all the transport people in between. When we got to her room in Pediatrics it was decorated with streamers and Happy Birthday signs and a big stuffed unicorn.
For those who didn’t know what happened, I was walking her in the gate for her flag racing run in Bison. She was riding Classy, who we’ve had forever. Shes the horse who anyone who doesn’t know how to ride would ride, who Payton trick rode on at the Badlands Circuit Finals when Payton and Classy were both just 5 years old, who the twins would bounce around double, ba****ck and backwards on when they were just tiny… she’s never made a wrong move. Anyway, at the rodeo on Friday she took of from the gate pretty hard so yesterday I was going to walk her in and make her take off slower. When she tried to take off I had a hold of her and when she felt that she spun and flipped straight over backwards right on top of Charlie. I’m still in shock that it happened.. and if you saw it happen you know how bad the outcome could have been.
She has two fractures on the right side of her pelvis and a couple serious lacerations, the worst of which was 10cmm long and very deep and was repaired in surgery this morning. The other was 5cm and just required stitches. They explained the pain scale to her in the first ambulance ride and she said her pain was a 6. She never cried once.
The outpouring of love and support and offers of anything we may need has been so overwhelming. Charlie has not been awake much yet today but when she is she smiles when I tell her about all the messages and show her all the videos. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. ❤️❤️
