Injured Actor Was To Be Part Of Local Video

Production of an equestrian safety video written by a Spokane Valley woman would have wrapped up Friday - had it not been for the riding injury suffered by “Superman” film actor Christopher Reeve on May 27.

Reeve, 42, volunteered last year to narrate “Every Time … Every Ride,” a video encouraging the use of helmets while horse riding. As of last week, the video had been edited and ready for Reeve to lay down his voice track from a sound studio in New York. He would have done that Tuesday or Wednesday.

“I just talked with him last Thursday (May 25),” said Jean Gulden, who wrote and produced the video. “He told me he would be out of town for the weekend, and I said ‘Good luck, have fun on your horse.”’

A longtime equestrian, Reeve was injured when his horse stopped short of a hurdle at a horse-jumping competition in Virginia. Momentum threw him to the ground headfirst, breaking his neck and injuring his spinal cord. Although Reeve reportedly had some feeling in his chest on Friday, earlier reports had said that the injury could kill him or leave him a quadriplegic.

“I really feel for him,” Gulden said. “I can’t believe it.”

Gulden was working on the video in conjunction with the Washington State 4-H Foundation and the Washington State University Cooperative Extension. She first heard about Reeve’s injury on Sunday.

The initial reports simply stated that Reeve fell on his head. Gulden wasn’t worried, because she knew Reeve was wearing a helmet.

She found out about the severity of the injury on Tuesday. When she answered the telephone to hear the news, she had video brochures and a prototype package sleeve in her hand. In bold letters, the sleeve read, “Narrated by Christopher Reeve.”

Friday, The Associated Press reported that Reeve had also written copy for and appeared on a horse safety poster produced by a national equestrian group. It has not yet been released.

Gulden’s video, edited locally by North by Northwest Productions, was supposed to ship nationally in three weeks. Despite the tragedy, Gulden said the video will still be completed this summer. She is currently trying to find another narrator.

Gulden also emphasized that horse riding is a safe sport, as long as people wear helmets. Gulden said only 14.2 percent of all spinal cord injuries are sports-related, and only 2.8 percent of those are due to equestrian activity.

She said Reeve’s injury was caused by a spooked horse and a fall at a peculiar angle, not by any lack of precaution.

“It’s a tragedy, but it’s just like people can wear seat belts and do everything right and still get injured in a car,” she said. “You can’t expect a helmet to protect your neck.”

The use of helmets is required for all equestrian competitions, including the 14th Annual Deep Creek Horse Trials at Deep Creek Farm, continuing today and tomorrow in Medical Lake. That event draws more than 200 competitors from five states and two Canadian provinces.

Deep Creek organizer Cindy Burge said both The United States Combined Training Association and American Horse Show Association require competitors wear helmets for all events. She said the best helmets bear the “ASTM approved” label.

Although doctors aren’t predicting Reeve’s ultimate condition, Gulden said without a helmet Reeve would probably have fared worse.

“If he does come out of this OK, he’ll have the helmet to thank for no brain injuries.”