Nearly 50 years ago, Jeanetta Sturgeon’s life changed in an instant. When a fire erupted in her home, the then-28-year-old mother of two sustained burns over 80 percent of her body. For the next two years she was in and out of the hospital, enduring multiple surgeries and painful skin grafts. Most of her fingers were so badly burned that they could not be saved. Surgeons did manage to graft a thumb back onto her dominant hand, but the rest of her fingers ended at the top end of the metacarpals.
Jeanetta’s recovery was long and painful, but she refused to stop riding. The daughter of a trick rider, she had been raised with horses, and she was determined to keep them in her life. Jeanetta learned how to care for her horses with the partial hands she had left. In fact, she managed to do every-thing for herself except fasten the chinstrap of her helmet.
Along the way, Jeanetta decided to take up a new sport: endurance riding. After she acquired her first distance horse, a spirited chestnut Arabian called Flagg, she began entering endurance events sanctioned by the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC). As the pair covered many miles together, Jeanetta’s love for endurance competition solidified.
A remarkable partnership
In 2002, she was introduced to Flyofthephoenix, a strong-willed Arabian gelding destined to become her soulmate. The indomitable duo racked up miles all over the West. Phoenix earned his 3,000-mile medallion with AERC, and in 2004 the pair received the coveted Decade Team Award, which recognizes horse-and-rider teams who have completed at least one endurance ride of 50 miles or more each year for 10 years.
Through it all, Jeanetta continued to battle the pain of her scars and other health issues. But when she was aboard Phoenix, she could climb any mountain and conquer any trail. Indeed, their remarkable partnership was most evident when they took part in multi-day endurance events. Fifty miles a day for three to five consecutive days is a significant test for any horse-and-rider team. But Phoenix thrived on the challenge, and Jeanetta rose to meet his strengths.
Along the way, Jeanetta has always been the first to help others. For years, when she lived near Pie Town, New Mexico, she served as an “angel” every spring for hikers on the Continental Divide Trail. She delivered water jugs along the route and often gave injured, dehydrated and exhausted hikers a ride to the nearest layover point or medical facility. Often, this meant long hours behind the wheel of her ancient but trusty Ram 2500 Cummins diesel pickup.
More recently, Jeanetta moved back to her home state of Oklahoma with her two horses and two dogs in tow. Phoenix, now a spry 29-year-old, and his companion Dizzy, a chestnut Arabian gelding rescued from a slaughter sale a decade ago, seem to be enjoying their new Sooner State digs. Most days they can be found grazing under the tall pecan trees on Jeanetta’s family’s property.
Looking to the future
Happily, this isn’t the end of the story. Jeanetta’s energy, love of her horses and will to ride continue to inspire all of those around her. In fact, not long after Jeanetta’s return to Oklahoma, she discovered that her great-granddaughter, Kinley Parker, 11, was ready to continue the family’s equestrian tradition. The youngster has begun to work with her great-grandmother to learn all that she can about the horses now in her backyard, from picking out hooves and tacking up, to riding bareback.
“Kinley saddles and bridles the horses by herself. And trots and canters for hours,” says Jeanetta, reveling in her new role as mentor. “I have found my purpose.”
