At first glance, 12-year-old Runsonstilts (“Stilts”) might appear to be just a plain, brown off-the-track Thoroughbred. But to his owner, Margaret McKelvy of Mount Airy, Maryland, he’s the perfect amateur horse, as eager to venture out on the trail as he is to jump or “dance in the sandbox.” As she remarked, “He goes as well as I ride him and will always rise to the occasion.”
Stilts has also developed into a nice event horse, carrying the marketing/business professional to Preliminary-level competition. Until, that is, a kick injury revealed an unexpected knee issue.
“After we moved up to Preliminary when he was 7, we had a few instances of general unsoundness that we couldn’t pinpoint,” McKelvy recalled. “I took him for a bone scan, and it mostly pointed to…
