After making some progress, Cassandra Kahle developed aspiration pneumonia from her breathing tube today. Although the professional show jumper has been unconscious since a fall last weekend, on Wednesday she was able to respond to commands, such as thumbs up.
UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla., quickly addressed the change in her situation with antibiotics, according to Emil Spadone, the owner of Redfield Farm in Ocala, Fla., and Califon, N.J., where Cassie is based.
“But it appears that an infection such as this will slow down her responses and ability to wake up,” he reported.
It’s a tough development for her family and friends, but Emil said he was told it will take “24 to 48 hours to allow the antibiotics to do their job and we expect to be back on track.”
Being young (29) and strong are factors in Cassie’s favor. It’s tough to take the situation in stride, especially after how well she reacted on Wednesday, but doctors advise patience.
For those who don’t know what happened, Cassie and her mount, Heviola, fell in the 1.40-meter Classic at the HITS show in Ocala.The 10-year-old Dutchbred mare was unhurt, but Cassie suffered a traumatic brain injury. Her family flew down from Canada to support her and are waiting for her to wake up.
The doctors are “very optimistic,” said Emil.
“They see this all the time. We don’t, so it’s very up and down and roller-coastery for us. The doctor said, `You just have to take that, that’s the way it is, it goes up and it goes down. You’ll have some good days and some-not-as good days.’ ”
Emil said scans show mild bleeding and mild bruising.
“They’re all recoverable injuries,” he noted, adding, “it’s a little bit of a slow process. Every hour, they do a neuro test; it changes from one hour to the next.”
“They’re still very positive and so, of course, we’re very positive,” Emil emphasized.
Cassie is an accomplished rider who won the $100,000 Grand Prix de Penn National last year and the World Champion Hunter Rider Pro Challenge at the Capital Challenge Horse Show in 2019.
Cassie on her way to winning the Grand Prix de Penn National last fall. (Andrew Ryback photo)
She was going fast in the jump-off at HITS when two distances to the next jump appeared. One was an inside turn, the other was a longer distance.
“I was watching and saw both distances,” said Emil.
“I saw the flyer; she was trying to fit in the shorter one, the horse was trying to pick up on the longer one and left early.”
The horse fell and her rider “got catapulted off the side.”
She hit her head just above her temple and left eye and back to the side; that’s where the contusions are on the scan, according to Emil, adding her only other injury is a big bruise on her side.
Emil noted that like every other rider, Cassie has fallen more than once.
“She always gets up and dusts off her pants and says `Let’s try again.’ She’s tough.”
But this time, it didn’t happen that way.
“It was really a miscommunication. It wasn’t Heviola’s fault and it wasn’t Cassie’s fault,” said Emil.
As often happens when there is a crisis, the horse show community has rallied around Cassie. Danielle Torano organized an effort to send food to Cassie’s nurses as a thank you for her care. Those who want to contribute can click on this link
