Alcatraz

Talk about roadblocks.

Dr. Barry Falkenham’s Congress Masters Hunter Under Saddle entry this year, Alcatraz, has had more than his fair share. First he lost his eye and now he’s lost his rider.

At just three months of age, the 2015 bay stallion, sired by Allocate Your Assets and out of Made For Luke, got a stick or a piece of hay poked into his right eye.

“He got a really bad melting corneal ulcer,” Dr. Falkenham said. “He spent several weeks at the vet clinic hospitalized, where they tried to save it.”

As an optimistic horse owner and veterinarian, Dr. Falkenham, of Nova Scotia, Canada, kept a close watch over the colt’s eye as he grew with high hopes for a full recovery.

“I got in touch with a human ophthalmologist in Dallas who does some work on horses and he assured me that because of its size, it was a blind eye and he was never going to be able to see, so it should be taken out,” Dr. Falkenham said. “In May we had it removed.”

Nocona, Texas trainer Nancy Sue Ryan, has been training Alcatraz and until a riding accident here at Congress on Thursday, was scheduled to show him in the Masters Hunter Under Saddle on Saturday night. She said he has had challenges because he has just one eye but he has adapted well.

“He’s not aware of what is on his right side but then he sees the other horses on his left so he wants to lean,” Ryan said. “That’s always a challenge to keep him going forward but it’s very helpful that he is so good minded.”

Ryan has trained horses for Faulkenham for the past 22 years and has shown them to four Congress Championships and two AQHA World Championships.

But this year Katy Jo Zuidema will step in. Ryan was riding in a practice arena and got accidently sideswiped by another horse and suffered a broken leg. After surgery today, her daughter, Courtney Suzanne Brockmueller, reported that surgeons thought it went well. “Hopefully, she will be released to fly home to Texas soon,” she wrote on her Facebook page.”

Zuidema will fill in and ride Alcatraz in the Masters Hunter Under Saddle on Saturday. He will be one of 13 horses to compete.

Others entered are:

• Tails Never Fail, owned by Jessica Alleman, shown by Jennifer Leckey.
• Al Toast To That, owned and shown by Amber Hanson Pickard.
• Beautiful Ones Only, owned by Alexandra Chavez and shown by Troy Lehn.
• Sheza Iron Mercedes, owned by Meaghen Whelan, shown by Keith Miller.
• Black Tie And Heels, owned by Mr. and Mrs. William Wilkes, shown by Carmen Mayabb.
• Shes Personal, owned by Dawn Baker and shown by Trisha Yamber.
• Kruzin In Style, owned by Jennifer Conny and shown by Heidi Piper.
• U Got It, owned by Sandra Morgan and shown by Tami Thurston.
• Best Jazz Album Yet, owned by Jim Searles and shown by Deanna Searles.
• Escapingwiththegoods, owned by Tracy Harrell and shown by Joy Wheeler.
• Without Permission, owned by Joanne Taylor and shown by Dawn Baker.
• Maid In Hooville, owned by Tammy Dyer and shown by Courtney Suzanne Brockmueller.

Entries for the Masters Western Pleasure include:

• KM Cheerstothebest, owned by Masterson Farms and shown by Casey Willis.
• RR Lookin Like Magic, owned by Magnuson Farm LLC and shown by Gil Galyean.
• Shesa Candy Machine, owned by Scott & Linda Berwick and shown by Angie Cannizzaro.
• Believe It Or Not, owned by Kent Ray Taylor and shown by Rusty Green.
• VS Life Support, owned by Francesca Wierda and shown by Patrick Heeley.
• No Doubting Me, owned by Sue Sanken and shown by Brian Baker.
• Bet N On A Dream, owned by Donna Grosse and shown by Travis Duit.
• Chexy When Im Lopin, owned by Cathy Corrigan Frank and shown by Shane Pope.
• Always Original, owned by Tamara Ray and shown by Cole Baker.
• Howdreamsaremade, owned by Vicky Wefald and shown by Taft Dickerson.
• Midknight Invitation, owned by Starland Ranch LLC and shown by Kenny Lakins.
• Takealitleridewithme, owned by Ronald Plantz and shown by Jamie Zuidema.
• Best Brew At The Bar, owned by Ernest Branson and shown by David Archer.
• My Wild Invitation, owned by Robyn Davies and shown by Jessica Gilliam.
• Since U Been Gone, owned by Scott Secrist and shown by Wade Parks.
• Classically Lazy, owned by Rawlings Enterprises and shown by Jay Starnes.
• Hez My Version, owned by Joni Gainey and shown by Jim Chafin.
• U R Certain To Look, owned by Beth McNichol and shown by Jennifer Stein.
• Keeping Vitals Good, owned by Ron Shelly and shown Randy Wilson.
• VS The First Lady, owned by Kristen Galyean and shown by Aaron Moses.

The Congress Masters Hunter Under Saddle class is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, and will be followed by the Masters Western Pleasure.