Friends ’til the end
Championship bond remains strong between equestrian and her horse
Sonora equestrian Teresa Job’s best friend has four legs, a wild mane, striped hooves and is a 12-year-old sorrel leopard Appaloosa named Duke, who despite his failing eyesight recently managed to put on the performance of a lifetime and win big — most likely for the last time.
The bond between Job and Duke, who have been together since the horse was 3, is so strong that at a show in July in Rancho Murieta, Job left the arena and told her family that Duke was not seeing well.
In August, Duke was diagnosed with Equine Recurrent Uveitis, or ERU, in both of his eyes. ERU is an immunemediated inflammatory condition of the eye and is the most common cause of blindness in horses. It may be referred to as moon blindness, Iridocyclitis, and Periodic Ophthalmia, according to UC Davis’ Center for Equine Health.
“The ophthalmologist at UC Davis said the microscopic damage Duke already has in his eyes is significant enough that he should already be entirely blind,” Job, 23, explained.
The damage is severe, but the ophthalmologist believes he still has some vision left because Duke can track some movement and will blink if she moves her hand up to his eye.
“He can see some, but the ability at which he still performs for me is far beyond what anyone should expect of a vision impaired horse,” Job said.
Appaloosa horses are particularly susceptible to ERU, and in particular to bilateral disease, which suggests that genetics plays a significant role in ERU risk in this breed. They are eight times more likely to develop ERU than other breeds and significantly more likely to become blind in one or both eyes, according to the Center for Equine Health at UC Davis.
At this point, the damage the ERU has done to Duke’s vision is permanent. Job can only stop further damage to his eyes and try to keep her best friend comfortable.
“Teresa gives him special eye drops every morning and every night, plus he wears a special eye mask to block UV rays,” said her mother, Joane Job, a school counselor at Curtis Creek Elementary School in Sonora.
Knowing Duke still wanted to perform and despite his diagnosis, Teresa Job traveled with him to Fort Worth, Texas, to participate in the 2021 World Appaloosa Show held at the Will Rogers Equestrian Center from Oct. 29 to Nov. 6.
The event marked the third time the pair, who are known professionally as “Highly Spotageous,” performed at the iconic venue.
“Duke loves to work and is most happy with the crew at shows,” Teresa Job said. “He revels in being the center of attention, absolutely soaks it up.”
Duke is happiest, she said, when he is being pampered by multiple people during their trips to compete.
“I think he feels really proud of himself, when he knows he did well,” she said. “He comes out of the pen all poofed up and content. He enjoys the whole environment of showing, the competition, and everything else that goes into showing.”
The pair did exceptionally well and took home awards for All-around Non-pro title; Champion Non-pro Ranch Horse; six World Championships; three Reserve World Championships, including several top five and top ten spots in other categories.
“I added some new voice cues in hopes of helping him understand without seeing, and have geared my communication with him, since his diagnosis, to try and deserve his trust, knowing he can’t see much,” Teresa Job explained.
She said the big shows, like the Fort Worth Appaloosa World Championship, are “grueling in the best way “with “little sleep, “lots of work,” and an “emotional rollercoaster.“
Competitive horse riding is divided into categories. In Texas, Teresa Job participated in reining, or guiding her horse through a series of slides, stops or spins, with varying degrees of difficulty and patterns. Reining requires total concentration and communication between horse and rider.
Job, as a reiner, is an elite equine athlete. She and Duke both have to be in excellent condition to perform complex maneuvers, which include running in circles, spinning fast, and executing rundowns that end in powerful sliding stops.
To celebrate her treasured horse, Teresa Job dedicated their freestyle reining to Duke, who per
formed the routine blindfolded. She chose Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke,” and “Look Through My Eyes,” sung by Phil Collins, for
the music she paired with their routine.
“The win from this show I’m most proud of is the freestyle reining,” Teresa
Job said. “I felt like I succeeded in giving Duke a worthy tribute with that performance.
“I wanted to honor just how much Duke has given me and I really wanted the audience to understand just how incredible his trust really is with his failing eyesight. Looking at him you can’t tell his vision is impaired. We achieved our highest reining score ever at Will Rogers while he was blindfolded.
“It’s hard for me to even think about just how much Duke trusts me, he has every reason not to and yet he allows me, and gives me interactions and performances that defy logic and nature for the sake of trust.”
Duke’s performance in Texas was “exemplary, beyond what you would expect of a horse with his limited capacity,” it was “as if he could see,” Joane Job agreed.
”He trusts Teresa, and she is his guide,” she said.
Duke has an appointment in December to once again see his ophthalmologist, at which time they will know more concerning the progression of the complex autoimmune disease and whether it’s time to insist that her best friend fully retire from competition.
“The most important thing to me is to keep Duke happy,” Teresa Job said. “If he wants to keep showing I’ll figure out what we can safely do.”
Changes in light can make Duke momentarily completely blind based on his behavior at this point, according to Teresa Job, so retirement may be best for her beloved Appaloosa. If hanging up the reins is in order, he will not be alone.
”Duke will get to hang out with a seeing-eye goat, or mini horse, when he is completely retired,” Teresa Job said. “I’ll keep riding him on trails and such as long as he wants and it’s safe.”