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UnbridledDixie
Thebigbaymarethatcould
A true story
Some stories are about winning. This one is about refusing to quit: the true comeback of an off-the-track Thoroughbred and the owner who never gave up on her.
Take your time, or press Play and let it unfold.
Click, or press → to step forward and ← to step backTap to step forward
Departure: The dream
The ordinary world
Dream big
On screen: A watercolor compass star in hot pink and black, bursting out of a splash of pink ink.
It all started with a little girl, a dream, and a grandmother who believed in her.
There was no trust fund and no fancy barn. Cat grew up in a middle-class family, and at sixteen the deal was simple: if she wanted to keep riding, she would pay her own way.
She has been working ever since.
In college, she rode on the IHSA and horse show teams while working two jobs to fund her equestrian journey.
She spent years teaching riding lessons in the Midwest and took working student positions in the South.
The call to adventure
The Winter Equestrian Capital of the World
On screen: A watercolor quill pen, its feather in pink, black and Tiffany blue: the tool of a storyteller.
When the call came, she answered it. Cat moved south and worked as an equestrian sport journalist, a barn manager and an exercise rider.
She traveled the country telling the stories of the sport’s top riders, multiple Olympians among them. She was living the dream. She didn’t know yet how quickly a dream can break.
The wound
The fall
On screen: An English stirrup iron, fallen on its side, its colour drained to grey.
It broke all at once. First, Cat survived a sexual assault.
Despite a full police investigation and a DA willing to prosecute, the entire equestrian community ostracized her because the people who enabled the assailant spread rumors in an attempt to discredit Cat and deny what happened to her.
Then a fall from a young Warmblood named Southern Star became the moment that changed her life forever.
When an athlete she profiled and became friends with following his career, an Olympian and rising star, died in a tragic car accident, Cat was broken.
Three blows, one after another. Not one of them was hers to choose, and each one took a little more of the girl who used to dream big.
It all felt too heavy.
So she made the only choice that was hers to make. Cat chose to step back from the sport she loved, to heal: mind, body, spirit and soul.
A new world
Starting over
On screen: A dream catcher in black, pink and Tiffany blue, hung with feathers and beads: protection.
Healing came slowly, and from somewhere she didn’t expect: helping others. Volunteering with hippotherapy programs, where horses help people heal, she found others who, like her, were living with complex PTSD, and alongside them she learned healthy ways to cope.
Then she found the courage to reinvent herself, in a world with no horses in it at all. She completed Coding Dojo’s intensive coding bootcamp and landed a role in cybersecurity. Cat found her calling researching, understanding, translating, and helping to provide solutions to the most complex cyberthreats facing our great Nation.
But the barn never stopped calling her name.
Crossing the threshold
The stars aligned
On screen: A watercolor illustration of Cat Allen nose to nose with Unbridled Dixie, her Thoroughbred hunter prospect: Cat’s eyes closed, Dixie’s ears pricked.
Then came Dixie. Cat grew up riding Thoroughbreds and had a deep appreciation for the breed, with bloodlines that trace back hundreds of years.
Decision day
The day Cat had to decide, the stars aligned. An investment she had made paid off in dividends, and that’s when she knew Dixie was the horse she was meant to have. It was her grandmother, sending guidance from heaven. And Dixie? She even wears a star.
Cat bought her as a green, young, unproven mare. She trusted her gut that told her this mare was something magic. In a sport designed for only the wealthy and legacy riders to rise the ranks, she earned her way in with no leg up from anyone else.
Most of the young women and men considered Cat’s competition came from wealthy parents with unlimited budgets or industry parents who already paved the way. Cat is a self-funded, first-generation equestrian, doing it all on her own (no, there’s no man funding her way behind the scenes).
Initiation: The trials
Tests, allies and enemies
She refused
On screen: A watercolor illustration of Cat Allen kissing Unbridled Dixie, her Thoroughbred hunter mare, on the nose, Dixie’s white star showing beneath her forelock.
Plenty of people told Cat to give up on this mare.
“Just put her down.”, said Trainers
“Just donate her somewhere.”, said Friends
“Just give up on her.”, said Coworkers
“Just put her down.”“Just donate her somewhere.”“Just give up on her.”
She refused.
Some went further. In a sport built for money, Cat and Dixie faced nastiness and cruelty from people who had far more than they ever did, people who seemed determined to keep them out of the show ring.
Good horsewomen don’t cut corners, don’t cheat, and never dishonor the horses that make this sport possible.
Root for the underdog.
The mentor
A softer way
On screen: A watercolor illustration of Cat Allen, smiling, offering Dixie, her off-track Thoroughbred mare, a treat from her hand.
Dixie went through trainer after trainer. Too many of them used force and inhumane methods, and every time, it backfired.
Then a gifted and experienced horsewoman, Janet, came back into Dixie’s life.
Janet’s way:
Humane.
Ethical.
Soft.
Positive reinforcement and patience.
For the first time, Dixie felt safe. She finally found her place and her path forward, on a foundation that will last a lifetime.
The approach
The Friday before
On screen: A watercolor illustration of Cat Allen and Unbridled Dixie, ready for the show ring, its colour draining away as night falls.
At last, they were ready. Their first horse show was on Sunday.
Then, on Friday, Dixie suspiciously colicked.
The emergency vet came out and pumped her stomach, and while she briefly looked to be on the mend, she quickly took a turn for the worse.
Friday night
The call had to be made: get her on a trailer to the emergency clinic, or lose her.
Every minute counted. Janet’s quick wit got her on that trailer anyway. If it weren’t for Janet, Dixie wouldn’t be alive today.
Nevertheless, shepersevered.
Dixie went into emergency colic surgery. No one knew if she would make it, let alone recover.
The ordeal
Through the night
On screen: Darkness, and a heart monitor keeping time through the night under a sky full of stars. Then morning comes, and there is Unbridled Dixie, the bay Thoroughbred mare, among cherry blossoms.
Overnight
Surgeons worked through the night.
Cat slept in the parking lot and prayed throughout the night for Dixie’s survival.
God answered her prayers.
Morning
And in the morning, Dixie woke up and stood without issue.
Dixie survived.
Return: The comeback
The road back
The long road
On screen: A watercolor illustration of Cat Allen walking Unbridled Dixie on a lead rope during her recovery from colic surgery, both of them looking content.
Her road to recovery was long: weeks of rehab, then months of rebuilding her strength and stamina. Dixie showed up and put in the work, each and every day. So did Cat.
Today, Dixie is sound, healthy and thriving. She is proof that miracles happen.
What’s next
And she’s just getting started. Her biggest chapter is still ahead.
Full circle
Second chances
On screen: The watercolor compass star from the first chapter, back again, turning slowly in a splash of Tiffany blue ink.
She is the big bay mare that could.
The mission
To restore the popularity of the American Thoroughbred in the competitive hunter/jumper arena, by exhibiting the power of second chances.
They aren’t stopping. Cat and Dixie will keep showing up, doing it the right way, and competing with the best. Cat hopes Dixie will inspire the next generation of equestrians to choose partners not based on price tags, but based on their heart and potential.
