Yet Still I Dare to Hope

Last week, Katie Jo Jones and Robin Frid Show Horses announced the sale of the decorated AQHA mare, Im ExtremelySchmancy, by Extremely Hot Chips and out of Im Fancy Schmancy (by Batt Man). Today, we are honored to tell the story of Sassy’s new owner, who has overcome odds with incredible determination and a wonderful sense of humor.  Read on to learn more from Karen Jorgenson and Lainie DeBoer.

The press release announcement:

Katie Jo Jones and Robin Frid Show Horses Announce Sale of Im ExtremelySchmancy | Equine Chronicle

 

By Delores Kuhlwein

Hope. It’s like a drop of honey, a field of tulips blooming in the springtime. It’s a fresh rain, a whispered promise, a cloudless sky, the perfect punctuation mark at the end of a sentence. And it’s the only thing in the world keeping me afloat. –Tahereh Mafi.

 

Despite being the only horse lover in a decidedly non-horsey family, a role she joking refers to as being “the black sheep,” Karen Jorgenson says her passion for the horse never waned.

“My mom said I came out of the womb saying ‘horsey,’” she laughs.  She rode other people’s horses and ponies from the time she was young, and when she was finally able to afford one, she watched other people to learn how to do things on her own—but for over 30 years, she dreamed of winning at the Congress.

“When I became a Select I finally started having trainers of my own,” she explains, and she chose John and Jill Briggs to help her succeed, resulting in a Congress Championship in Select Showmanship in 2013 with All The Good Details, aka Kenny.

Eventually her path to follow her desire to win Top Three in English Equitation led her to take lessons in Minnesota from Lainie DeBoer, who Karen says is the thread in her journey.  “I’d never jumped before, but when I started taking lessons to be stronger, I was looking for an equitation horse, and I fell in love with a green-broke horse named The BLK List, aka Ike. I just started jumping three years ago at age 59, and in 2023, I won the Amateur Select Hunter Hack at the NSBA World Show, thanks to Jessica Johnson.”

However, April 16, 2025, became a critical turning point. Karen was warming up with “Ike” in Ocala, Florida, when the unexpected happened – she fell while jumping. “I’m a novice rider, so when I fell off, I ended up coming off the back, and I landed on my tailbone with my legs in the air, so my vest didn’t help,” she explains.

She got up, thinking she was fine, and managed to drive to the hotel to get some rest, but then could not get out of the car. When Lainie took Karen to the ER, the doctor told Karen she had an unstable fracture – a very rare, U-shaped fracture of the pelvis.  “Which means I had a fracture from my left hip all the way down to my tailbone and back up to my right hip,” Karen reveals. “They wouldn’t move me for six hours since it was considered unstable, and Lainie stayed with me the whole time. She was wonderful and the first person there when I woke up.”

The word “lucky” was likely the last thing on her mind until she learned the fracture was centimeters away from her being paralyzed for life.

There were more blessings coming her way as well. “Because it’s horse country, there was a surgeon available who had already done this,” Karen explains. And all the while, Lainie was there for Karen, challenging her to think ahead. “She said, ‘Let’s think about a year from now and write your comeback story.’ Those are the things I held onto when the fracture landed me in a wheelchair for three months, and my feet could not touch the ground.”

Lainie says, “I have known Karen for quite a while, and she is laser focused at being the best she can be. When you see somebody at their lowest point and you know they have all the right ingredients such as drive, determination, and work ethic, I knew she was going to be just fine. The road just got a bit longer. She was in shock when she was given the news for sure, but I just had to tell her what I see is a woman who never gives up.”

In July 2025, her doctor cleared Karen to walk, a feat that began first with a walker followed by a cane. “I had to learn to walk again, and I don’t take it for granted any more. You have conversations with God when you’re in a wheelchair for three months. I never wanted to make a decision out of fear, but in September, I decided not to jump again. I had thought about what I would do differently, and I knew it would not be worth it if it happened again,” she shares.

Also in September, she contacted her longtime friend, Jenny Frid, to let her know she would be in Dallas for a wedding. The two decided to meet for dinner to catch up. “I’m normally very private, and I hadn’t told anyone what happened,” Karen says. “That night I told her I wasn’t going to jump, but I needed a challenge, and it had to be a horse that doesn’t jump,” she explains.

She also didn’t realize how depressed she’d been until she had that dinner with Jenny, who gave Karen hope. “She talked to Robin and said they’d help me find an all around horse., and she gave me that little hope that I could have a different dream.” But she wasn’t cleared to ride until October, and even then, it would be a slow process.

“My dream western all around horse was Im ExtremelySchmancy, but I didn’t realize the horse was in their barn,” Karen admits. So when “Sassy” came up for sale, Karen says it was a dream she thought was beyond her reach. “Jenny reminded me she is a Ferrari, and she suggested maybe I needed a BMW,” she laughs.

Karen needed time to get riding again, and Robin and Jenny were busy with Congress and the World Show, so though it was what she calls a long shot, Karen finally was able to see if she could ride Sassy.

“I was 100 percent comfortable right away, and she soaked up all my nervous energy. She’s sweet, beautiful, kind, and I found the perfect fit,” Karen says. “That week before I went to see Jenny in September, I thought somehow God was going to open another door beyond something I’d never dreamed of. We clicked – and Jenny said, ‘Sassy picked you, Karen.’”

They agreed she would be starting slow, and not “going gangbusters right away,” Karen declares.  “But for Robin and Jenny to have enough faith in me to do this, I’m eternally grateful.”

Lainie sums it up beautifully: “Maybe her journey changed a bit, but that is what life is all about. She had the right attitude to get back on a horse and be competitive again. Look at her now. I am so proud of her.”