Congress Dreams Come True For Young Rider Recovering From Horrific Car Accident

By: Brittany Bevis

Considering the fact that Josey Walters was named after the great barrel racer, Martha Josey, it only seems that natural that the 16-year-old was destined for a future in the horse industry. Sadly, a horrific car accident on December 23rd, 2016, threatened not only her ability to ride horses or even walk again, but her life.

Josey’s grandmother, Sally Walters, remembers the Christmastime accident like it was yesterday. “We thought we were going to lose her,” Sally says. “She fractured her skull at the base next to her spinal cord and smashed the bones in her cheeks, as well as breaking her jaw in four places. She was in intensive care for a few days and had surgery to wire her jaw shut. The doctors didn’t touch her facial bones because it could have caused more damage. She was in a high-profile neck brace to protect the skull fracture. Amazingly, shortly after her jaw was unwired, she was freed from the neck brace several weeks early because of her miraculous recovery, due to her unusual muscle development for her age.”

Despite Josey’s quick recovery, that didn’t mean an immediate return to the show pen. Before the accident, Josey had been an avid barrel racer. But, due to the extent of her injuries, her skull needed more time to heal. Sally confirms that it’s been a long and hard summer for Josey as she’s begun to work her horses again, trying to rebuild muscle mass and regain the balance and quick reflexes necessary for competing in speed events.

Just a few weeks ago, during the Tough Enough To Wear Pink Horse Show on Sept. 16th, Josey’s grandfather, Keith Osborne, had the opportunity to bid on an auction item that included a special package for the All American Quarter Horse Congress. To ramp up the bidding even more, Sandra Patton, of Patton Cutting Horses, threw in the opportunity to ride one of her own Cutting horses at the Congress, with an entry fee already paid and ready to go. “Keith absolutely adores our 16-year-old granddaughter, Josey, and jumped back in on the bidding, determined to win the opportunity for her to show one of Sandy’s Cutting horses,” Sally says. Keith was persistent and ended up as the highest bidder, earning his granddaughter the chance to compete at the Congress aboard Magic Abbie, an AQHA mare with lifetime earnings of $111,000. Because of NCHA’s rules regarding limited riders, Josey would be able to compete in the $2,000 Limited Rider class on a horse not owned by a family member.

The class was scheduled to take place on Thursday of this week, so Josey met up with the Sandra on Wednesday for a jam-packed lesson of Cutting 101. For her practice session, she was able to use Sandra’s trainer’s [Gabe Reynolds] horse, Dualing With Desire, aka “Zorro.” Josey was extremely excited to have the opportunity to show in her first Cutting event. Her goal for the experience was to “have fun and enjoy the ride.”

“My grandpa said, “don’t fall off and get trampled by the cattle, because you know that they’re trained to trample you!” Josey laughs.

After losing her first calf, Josey nailed her second and third attempts and ended with a score of 120, not bad for her first time cutting a live cow! “I’m still just blown away by her performance, considering she has never done this before, and the crash course on Wednesday only involved chasing and reacting to a flag substitute for a calf,” Sally says. “She had never entered a herd of calves before, so her first attempt went as expected, but she didn’t let it happen again, and she worked those calves like a pro! I’m just so darn excited for her! Gabe, who helped coach her, said she’s in the wrong discipline. She needs to be in Cutting, not Barrel Racing! I don’t think you can take the Barrel Racing out of her … but she has definitely caught the Cutting bug.”

Josey would like to thank Sandra Patton and Gabe Reynolds for the opportunity to practice and compete with their horses as well as her grandfather for making this dream a reality with the purchase of the live auction package. “If he didn’t win the Quarter Horse Congress Package in the live auction, I wouldn’t have had this chance of a lifetime to work with amazing people and amazing horses. After my life-threatening auto wreck that resulted in a skull fracture, broken jaw in multiple places, caved-in sinus wall, and a broken orbital socket floor, we thought I wouldn’t be able to ride like I used to. Instead, I started back up slowly by riding our pleasure horse, eventually worked my way back up to my barrel horses, to now riding a professional cutting horse at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress!”

“Just last weekend, September 30^th2017, I attended my first barrel show in over a year, only to five days later be showing at the Congress. Learning to ride a Cutting horse wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. After sitting with Sandra and watching classes, I learned the rules and some tips and surprisingly found out that some things in the Cutting world are very similar to things in the Barrel Racing world. I wouldn’t be ready to show if Sandra and Gabe hadn’t let me have a lesson on Gabe’s horse, Zorro. I’m super excited that I have this opportunity and that everyone is supporting me and cheering me on. All I wanted to do was to go out and have fun and try my best. I’m just thankful to be here and have this opportunity.”