Champion Horse Fights Near-Deadly Illness To Successfully Repeat Win

Josie is a two-time rookie professional champion, but around here, she is known as the doughnut diva. 

Wednesday, December 1st 2021, 6:43 pm



-

Josie is a two-time rookie professional champion, but around here, she is known as the doughnut diva. 

The North American Affiliate Championships (NAAC) are happening this week at the state fairgrounds. It’s the Super Bowl for the sport. 

After winning last year’s rookie professional championship, it became questionable if Josie would be here to defend her title. 

“Josie developed acute pneumonia out there that they couldn’t cure,” said Ed Frawley, Josie’s owner. 

Dave Moore, Josie’s trainer, realized quickly how serious this was.

“We could see that she was really in a lot of distress, and we have to have something happen now,” said Moore. 

Frawley and Moore left Josie at the hospital, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her goodbye. 

“I just remember looking over at him (Moore) and saying, 'She’s all I got,' as a tear rolled down my face, and he just looked and said, 'She’s gonna be fine, we’re not going to let anything happen to her,'” said Frawley. 

Josie spent 45 days in the ICU and 72 days total in the hospital. 

After some changes to her lifestyle, Josie came back to Oklahoma City and successfully defended her title in the rookie professional championship. That is something that very rarely happens. 

“When you’re young and you picture a horse, this is what I picture. You imagine because she is just so sweet,” said Nikki Tyndall, Josie’s rider. 

The team discovered something else about Josie during her illness -- a sweet tooth. 

“She’s always a glazed doughnut, and if you were to put a few in front of her, her favorite would always be crispy cream. If you try to give her one out of a convenience store, she will literally spit it at you,” said Frawley. 

Living up to her name the doughnut diva.  

“Spoiled? I think so,” said Frawley. 

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

December 1st, 2021

March 27th, 2024

March 26th, 2024

March 25th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024