From Fracture to Futurity: SRM Blue Thunder

Multiple fractures meant the beginning of a longer-than-typical journey for SRM Blue Thunder to reach his futurity year for his young owner & breeder, veterinarians, trainer and fans. The young horse sent ripples of hope through the horse community long before he hit the show pen at the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) World Show or the The Invitational Futurity and today, he steps in the pen at the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA)’s biggest show.

Young Savannah with the breeding shipment from Gunner Dun It Again. * Photo by Skye Mize

Before any horse enters an arena to complete its first futurity run, hours, days and years of anticipation take place for their human counterparts. And if the horse’s breeder did their due diligence of researching stallions for their mare, buying a breeding, and raising a healthy baby, maybe, just maybe, a trainer will see enough promise to put in the years of effort required to get the horse to a show.

One such breeder began this journey in 2020 at the ripe young age of 5. Savannah Mize was watching her mom, Skye, flip through the QHN Stallion Register when the youngster asked if she could call and get a breeding to Gunner Dun It Again (Colonels Smoking Gun (Gunner) x Dun Its Déjà Vu x Hollywood Dun It) for their mare. To her mother’s surprise, Tripol Ranch said yes.

The Mize family bred the buckskin stallion to their mare, Lady Bee Packin (Colonels Lil Gun x Last Great Bee x Jacs Electric Spark). Savannah’s next order of business was a trainer. It might have been a little ahead of the game to pick a trainer that soon, but she wanted EquiStat Elite $1 Million Rider Matt Mills to train the resulting foal.

Baby Blues

In early May, 2021, ‘Blue Thunder’ was born a happy, healthy colt. Savannah started handling the colt almost immediately, which isn’t typical of the Mize’s horses but turned out to be a lifesaver.

Any horse that comes in from the pasture three-legged lame is a terrifying sight for their owner. At first, Skye didn’t know how severe the injury was, but she knew Savannah would be heartbroken for her colt.

“That walk back up to the barn to tell Savannah was the longest hundred-yard walk of my life,” Skye said.

After contacting their local vet and getting x-rays, the Mize’s were faced with the heartbreaking decision that many horse owners dread when a horse comes up with multiple leg fractures.

“When he was two months old, he broke his elbow,” Savannah said.

The decision was not easy, but with heavy encouragement, Skye sent the x-rays to Texas A&M Veterinary Hospital to be evaluated by experts there.

“Blue Thunder sustained fractures to both the radius and the ulna of his right leg. So those are the two bones that make up the lower portion of the elbow,” Dr. Kati Glass of Texas A&M explained. “This is a fracture that occurs commonly together, so we weren’t surprised to see that both bones were broken.”

Drs. Jeffery Watkins and Kati Glass with SRM Blue Thunder and Lady Bee Packin. * Photo from Texas A&M

Dr. Glass went on to say that SRM Blue Thunder ‘Blue’ was lucky because Skye had some previous veterinary technician experience, so Glass could talk Skye through the process of preparing Blue for travel to A&M.

“He actually arrived being bandaged by Skye, very nicely, and was able to use his leg comfortably on the trailer and to get here nicely without any further disruption,” Dr. Glass explained.

Plates surgically placed in Blue’s elbow. * Photo from Mize Family

Blue arrived at Texas A&M on July 2, 2021 and had surgery the following day. Dr. Glass and Dr. Jeffrey Watkins spent five hours in the operating room repairing his breaks with plates. The most challenging break went through a growth plate and didn’t allow for a standard bone plate to be secured in that spot. Instead, Glass and Watkins used a T-plate developed by a group led by Watkins. Originally, the T-plate was invented to fix an injured polar bear.

When Skye’s friends in the reining community heard that surgery was the only option, they banded together to keep young Savannah’s dreams from being shattered. Ashli Critterman began reaching out and organized a benefit auction that included a portrait by Savannah of herself and Blue. The auction raised more than enough to cover his surgery and care, and Skye directed the remaining funds to Texas A&M Large Animal Teaching Hospital to begin the Blue Thunder Fund. The fund is to assist other girls whose horses need lifesaving care.

“We’re not the first family that this has happened to, and we won’t be the last,” Skye said.

The Road to Recovery

It’s hard to say that Blue’s recovery would be easy, but once again the colt was lucky.

“He was in the best bone-making phase of his whole life, so he’s in an ideal situation to heal,” Dr. Glass said not long after his surgery.

Blue returned home with his mother to grow up in the Mize’s care. The horse’s recovery was probably harder on the people around him than it was on the colt. Even with a successful surgery and a good start to his recovery, no one could tell if Blue would have a future career in the reining pen.

Dr. Glass was hopeful that Blue would heal correctly and have the possibility of a future career.

“From my perspective, one of the most important things that the general public can take away from the story is that we have surgical options to treat way more fractures than people think,” Dr. Glass said. “Of course, limitations still exist but I would say at this point, especially in young horses we have surgical options. Many of which, give promise for good outcome and for example in Blue’s case, and many others, include futures for athletic performance.”

Those athletic performances can include reining.

Another horse that had a fracture repaired and went on to compete is Gunnin For Chicks (Colonels Smoking Gun (Gunner) x Dun It By Chick x Hollywood Dun It) who had a humorous fracture as a foal. Dr. Watkins repaired that fracture and the stallion has gone on to compete at many top level events, earning $108,766 during a career that included the Derby Open Reserve Championship at the 2015 Tulsa Reining Classic.

Futurity Hopeful Savannah and Blue walking with Matt Mills. * Photo by Skye Mize

As Blue grew up, he went back to visit Texas A&M a few times to have x-rays that confirmed the repairs were still in good shape. And in 2023, Blue went to begin his training with Matt Mills in Weatherford, TX. As a precautionary measure, Blue had x-rays taken again while his training progressed.

Mills’ wife, Karen, organized Matt’s first meeting with Savannah. Although every trainer has to make a living, he agreed to train Blue for free.

“My wife Karen is the one that intercepted the messages on social media. So, she was kind of going back and forth with them, and she goes ‘You’re going to FaceTime with this little girl, she’s the cutest thing, it’s the best story you’ve ever heard,’ and before I even met her [Savannah] Karen said ‘You’re going to train this horse for free all the way to the Futurity’,” Matt explained.

Savannah made the breeding and training decisions for Blue but her plan goes far beyond breeding.

Savannah and Skye sold t-shirts and fundraised tirelessly to pay his nomination fees and make sure they would be able to enter Blue in the NRHA Futurity if everything worked out.

“Savannah says he’s going to win the Futurity,” Skye said.

And her dreams for SRM Blue Thunder don’t end there.

“Then, I’m going to win the Derby on him,” Savannah said.

All of these young girl’s dreams are real possibilities with her unicorn horse healthy and Matt Mills at the reins.

“I’m very thankful for Matt and Karen, because they’re the ones who really offered to make all this happen,” Savannah said.

Early in the futurity year, Blue won more than a dollar and proved to the world that he could in fact hold up to competition.

At the APHA World Show in July, SRM Blue Thunder and Matt Mills took fifth place in the Level 4 Open 3-Year-Old Reining Challenge. They pocketed $584, Savannah standing by with tears rolling down her cheeks. Back in the barn, she gave Blue a big hug and told Matt thank you, before he boosted her into the saddle to walk out her horse.

Matt Mills on SRM Blue Thunder during the APHA World Show. * Photo by Amy Olson

“Just getting him in the pen one time would be a fairy tale in itself,” Skye said in 2023.

The fairy tale is just getting started. SRM Blue Thunder competed at The Invitational Futurity as part of the 100X Reining Classic and enters the pen on Thanksgiving for the NRHA Open Level 4 Futurity.

“Matt thinks he has what it takes [to show],” Skye said. “I told Matt that this horse doesn’t have to win a dollar.”

Savannah cooling down SRM Blue Thunder at the APHA World Show. * Photo by Amy Olson