What was supposed to be another event full of fast runs, big payouts, and championship dreams at the National Barrel Horse Association Vegas Super Show became something no one could have imagined.
Competitors from across the country made their way to the South Point Hotel & Casino for one of the most anticipated events of the season. With $16,500 in added money to the Open division, the Super Show attracted the top riders and horses, all chasing a successful weekend in the arena. Instead, it became a weekend that would leave an impact far beyond Las Vegas.
While the incident happened on May 30, 2026, the impact of that night is still being felt. Three horses were badly injured in a stabbing at the South Point barns, and police said another contestant—a juvenile whose name was not released by officials—was arrested on multiple charges. As the case remains pending, the focus for the owners of Sully, Rocket, and Detail has remained on healing, recovery, and finding a way forward.
With nearly three months passing since the incident, Sully, Rocket, and Detail are on their own individual paths toward recovery. While Sully, owned by Hailey Krahenbuhl, and Rocket, partnered with 14-year-old Keira Weisbart, have made encouraging progress, Arielle Phillips and her horse, Detail, have faced a more difficult road filled with unexpected challenges.
Three horses. Three Owners. And three stories of resilience that continue to unfold.
Arielle Phillips and Detail
For Arielle Phillips, the road to recovery with Detail began in a moment of disbelief.
Phillips was the first horse owner to discover something was wrong at the South Point barns after a family member received the call that alerted them to the situation. Just minutes before the incident, Phillips had been with Detail.
She left shortly after midnight to call it a night and take a shower.
She never imagined a few minutes later, everything would be different.
“I just left her,” Phillips said. “This makes no sense.”
After receiving the call, Phillips’ family member rushed toward the barn while Phillips hurried to get dressed and make her way back. As the horse owner turned down the aisle, her family member began rapidly waving Phillips over. As Phillips started running toward her, she saw Detail standing in the wash rack—quivering, injured, and covered in wounds. It was difficult to understand what had happened.
In the middle of the chaos, two other competitors from her hometown were at the event; one included a veterinarian. She immediately called them.
“I said to her, ‘Detail is hurt. It looks like her muscles are coming out, and I’m so sorry to wake you up,” Phillips recalled. “They told me they were on their way.”
While they waited for the veterinarian, Phillips’ family searched Detail’s stall, trying to find any explanation for what happened to their beloved mare.
“The vet got down there and cleaned off her wounds,” Phillips shared. “Once everything was cleaned, it was very easy to see what the puncture looked like. The vet looked at her and said, ‘I’ve been a vet for decades, and I couldn’t cut cleaner than this.’”
As the veterinarian worked to treat Detail, Phillips was taken into another room by event producers and authorities, where they began asking questions trying to figure out collectively what had happened. During their conversation, they learned another horse that may have also been injured.
Then moments later, authorities rushed past the room; the other authorities left the room chasing out of them.
They were yelling, “Another horse has been stabbed.”
Phillips ran behind them.
“I turned the corner where the cops were standing and got to the stall,” Phillips said. “I saw it was Sully, and I collapsed to the floor and started bawling.”
The chaos of that night eventually gave way to a much longer battle.
Their Path to Recovery
For Phillips, the focus shifted from trying to understand the “why” to doing everything possible to help Detail heal. The road ahead would be filled with difficult decisions, setbacks, and moments of hope as they continued fighting forward.
“I thought the recovery process was going to be quick and seamless because her wounds healed very nicely,” the owner shared. “It became a nightmare because it’s been more of an emotional recovery for her.”
Once Detail’s wounds healed, Phillips received the go-ahead to begin riding her again and focus on getting her back to the job she loves—running barrels.
But when Phillips got back in the saddle, she quickly realized something was different.
“I could tell she was different,” Phillips expressed. “These new weird things she was doing, I thought, were her trauma. Normally she’s a very energetic horse, but she was now very lethargic and would take a few steps and freeze. It was all very weird. I wasn’t sure what was going on.”
Phillips later discovered that Detail had been suffering from sleep deprivation since the accident. Because the incident happened in her stall resting, the trauma left her struggling to fully relax and sleep.
As Detail’s behavior changed, Phillips made the decision to stop exercising her. Then, several weeks ago, another setback came when Detail suffered a fall in the turnout pen. The mare landed on her neck, leading to a series of X-rays and CT scans.
“It hasn’t been easy for that horse,” Phillips shared with emotion. “She won’t let herself relax. She just doesn’t want to be off guard.”
Despite the challenges, the last week has brought a glimpse of hope.
“I put Detail in a turnout with a bunch of minis,” Phillips shared. “She seems to love it, and for the first time in a month, she chose to go down and rest for exactly one minute—but at least she chose it.”
While recovery is still ahead for the duo, Phillips continues to believe Detail can return to doing what she loves most.
“I’m certain that her going back to work when her scans clear will help,” Phillips said. “She loves her job and being ridden.”
Keira Weisbart and Rocket
At just 14 years old, Keira Weisbart has lived through something no young rider could ever prepare for. But through an unimaginable situation, she has handled it with maturity, resilience, and strength for her tried-and-true partner, Rocket. With the support of her family, close friends and even strangers who stepped up along the way, Weisbart navigated the road forward one day at a time.
“After we told our friends that were stalled next to us and fed us what had happened that night, they went to double-check on Rocket,” Weisbart shared. “It wasn’t until about 10am they called us and told us that Rocket had been stabbed and they were taking him to the vet.”
After the initial shock wore off and Weisbart learned Rocket wasn’t in a life-threatening situation, her only focus was getting to her horse.
“When we got there he was getting stitched up, and he seemed okay,” Weisbart said.
Following the veterinarian’s instructions and completing treatment, including Accuscope and electric shock therapy, Rocket continued in the right direction. Today, he has healed completely with minimal scaring.
“He’s healed perfectly,” Wesbart shared. “Although he’s lost a lot of muscles. He has no top line; you can tell other muscles have gone down. He gets sweeter quicker when I ride him. So my main focus is just getting him back into shape.”
On July 25, 2026, Weisbart and Rocket made their return to the arena – their first full run together since the incident in May.
For Rocket, it was another step forward. For Weisbart it was a moment she’d been waiting for: being back in the arena with her horse.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be able to make a comeback; he’ll probably be even better,” his rider shared. “This has brought everyone closer, and the best thing I can do for him is to try my best to keep moving and get him back to where he was and hopefully even better.”
Hailey Krahenbuhl and Sully
Hailey Krahenbuhl and Sully have had their own unique comeback story, but what makes their journey different is just how close Sully came to not making it.
“We had a vet come and do an ultrasound on him,” Krahenbuhl said. “He had some pretty bad wounds.”
Sully suffered four wounds in total—two on his neck and two on his shoulder. Had any of those injuries landed differently, the outcome would have been catastrophic.
One wound on his neck was only half an inch from his cervical spin, an injury that could have immediately been fatal. Another was just one centimeter from his jugular, which would have caused him to bleed out. The two wounds in his shoulder were dangerously close to his joints, injuries that could have ended his career forever.
“After seeing that, I knew that God was watching over me and this horse,” the owner shared. “The vet even told us he has no idea how this horse is still alive.”
During the first few days following the injury Krahenbuhl wasn’t sure what Sully’s recovery would look like or if he would.
“He needed a lot of time for the wounds to heal,” she shared. “Especially the ones on his shoulder because it actually pierced the muscle.”
Just two weeks ago, Sully received the clearance to begin trotting again, a major step in his recovery and return to movement. His continued care included treatment with a BEMER system, a pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy designed to support circulation and muscle recovery, along with body work every two weeks to help maintain his leg movement and mobility.
“He’s got the clear to start getting back into shape,” Krahenbuhl said. “Since he was off for a while, I just have to take my time and make sure he is in the best shape of his life before I run him again.”
While there is still no timeline for Sully’s return to competition, Krahenbuhl is grateful to have the opportunity to help him get back to doing what he loves. For a horse that thrives in the arena, being sidelined was its own challenge.
“I’ve gotten a lot of comments saying I should retire him because he’s been through something so traumatic,” she shared. “But people don’t understand who this horse is; he’s bred to be an athlete, and he loves his job more than anything.”
Sully, Rocket and Detail each prove recovery doesn’t happen overnight. But with the right support in their corners and owners who love them reguardless, simply having them make small strides in recovery has been more than enough.