The journey of Holy Flit:

In 2014 I got a call that my one broodmare was foaling. I was very excited for the foal as she was sired by a very successful racehorse and barrel horse producer. I raced over to where I had her boarded (About 30 min away) and discovered they had already had to call the vet. The foal had gotten “stuck” and needed to be pulled. When I arrived, the vet was tending to the mare (she had prolapsed her uterus) and the foal was laying about 20 ft away. I was informed that the foal had not made it, and they were doing everything they could for the mare. As the vet was working on the mare, he glanced over at the foal. He noticed some movement, jumps up, goes over to her, takes a listen and hears a heartbeat. He had me grab the foal and swing her around by her hind legs (way harder than it sounds, I think I got her to sway a couple times…. They are wet, slippery and surprisingly heavy) Sure enough she drains some fluid and is now breathing. I was so relieved. We laid her closer to her mom and set her near her laying mothers’ body to see if she might try to nurse while her mom was still under anaesthetic. This would make an amazing story, but it wasn’t over yet. 

Another 20 minutes or so pass, and then the foal tries to stand up. It was then that everyone realised how dire of a situation we had on our hands. She was extremely crooked on three legs. I immediately turned to the vet and said that we would have to put her down. Devastating to all of us, as we had just witnessed a miracle. He concurred. But as we were having the discussion, the farm owners convinced us not to (their young kids were there, and it would have been a wee bit traumatic after what had happened so far.). So, the vet and I devise a plan to put casts on her two hind legs and keep her in a very small stall for a week. Basically “play it by ear”. A week went by with little to no improvement, and I again thought about euthanizing her, but thought we could try another week. I did state very clearly to the vet that surgery was not an option for me, so if at any point he felt this would not correct using the casts and splints that he had to let me know. Anyhow, one week led to several in casts. At which point the vet let me know that she would in fact surgery to correct three of the four legs. I now had countless dollars in vet bills into her. But by this time, I figured, in for a dime, in for a dollar, so I took her down to the surgeon to see how much it would in fact cost. Regularly, it would be quite expensive, but as we were discussing the pricing, the filly was tugging at his stethoscope and eating his pants. He looked at me and said she’s a cute little filly, isn’t she? I’ll do the whole surgery for $1,000. I didn’t even think twice. I left her there and surgery was done the next day. Hindsight… I should have asked the price of the after care…. She spent two months in wraps and support bandages at a rehabilitation barn in a neighbouring town. Her legs straightened up beautifully and she thought she was something special! I moved her home to Sundre to a friend’s gorgeous grassy field…. And she decided to de-glove one hind leg on the fence. Another vet visit, another month of bandaging. By the time she was 6 months old, between vet calls, casts, surgery, accident and aftercare, I was into her for well over $6,000.00.

At around 6 months of age in a horse’s life, we typically register them with their respective breed associations. I filled out her registration application but couldn’t come up with the right name. Something that would follow her entire life, be announced at hundreds of rodeos and barrel racings (ideally that’s where she would end up). One of the most prominent bloodlines in her pedigree is a stallion named Firewater Flit. I knew I wanted to incorporate some of that into her name… And something to do with her miraculous journey from death to vigor. That’s how she got the name Holy Flit! (Love the play on words.) 

Her two-year-old year she tried to cut her front leg off (quite literally), and her five-year-old year she colicked badly and spent several more days at Moore Equine. But despite all that she was a top ten futurity horse in Canada, and ended up winning 5 rodeos in 2022, qualifying for and winning the finals, and ended up winning me the season leader saddle. In 2023 she had a bad slip at a rodeo and again ended up back at Moore’s. There she underwent surgery on her fetlock to remove a bone chip. She came back as strong as ever and continued to excel in barrel racing.  To say that she has taught me patience and perseverance is an understatement.  

Sadly, in early 2025 she came down with a rare condition called Cauda Equina Syndrome. She lost sensation to her tail, rectum and bladder. She fought a hard fight and did regain the ability to urinate, but after three weeks in intensive care, she did not regain all functions needed to live a happy productive life and the decision to euthanize her was made. She was tough as nails, quirky in nature, but loved to run barrels. I feel very grateful and blessed to have had shared 11 amazing years loving her.