Much of the press and posts that circulate through mainstream and social media platforms aim at headlining the negative moments. However, I believe the most important stories are the positive changes and movements that come from within those moments. A recent example is the Tioga Strong movement when horsemen rallied together support in the wake of a tragic barn fire caused by arson. While the story of the actual arson may be what some look for, it's the stories of the horsemen, their horses and the aftermath of support and charity that are the true headliners. This can apply for any case, such as racing accidents, a potentially devastating aspect of harness racing. While we watch thousands of races a year being contested smoothly and without incident, it is easy to forget that we are combining horses and people on the track racing inches apart with hefty bikes as the vehicle and reaching speeds of over 30 miles an hour. While safety measures and protocols are in place, there can still be accidents and in the end, the important thing is the outcome of the health of the horse and driver. In every case, without fail, the horsemen rally together, whether to help the drivers, corral loose horses, or provide support in any way in the aftermath. As is the case at Saratoga Casino Hotel with driver Larry Stalbaum. On August 31, there was an evening card with 15 races scheduled at the Saratoga harness track. In race 13, Larry Stalbaum was in the bike of his student American Zest A as they lined up in post eight on the gate. As the starting car began to make the first turn towards the start, American Zest A wheeled off and planted his feet. Despite every effort, a collision was unavoidable and left Stalbaum tangled in the bike. The horse did not move from his standing position. In the first grand display of horsemanship, Jim Devaux and Chris Long both pulled their horses off the gate, circled back to where Stalbaum was, got off their bikes, and shared in keeping Stalbaum's horse calm and quiet while still holding the lines of their own horses in their other hands. Then, horsemen ran from the paddock across the track to assist. "The other horse knocked me off. My leg was hung up in the line, I don't know how. My hand was hung up in the line. When I moved my hand, his head would move. I saw the rest of the line was wrapped around the other wheel, I said 'I know I can't get my leg out and if I get my arm out and can't get my leg out, I'm in serious trouble,' so I just waited there for somebody to come," said Stalbaum. "Those guys [Devaux and Long] grabbed him and made sure he didn't go anywhere. It's odd he didn't go anywhere because he's kind of wild anyway." Rescue crews arrived and Stalbaum was transported to Albany Medical for its trauma unit. "I was very fortunate because if they had taken me to Saratoga Hospital, I'd probably be dead," Stalbaum said. "I was worse off than even I thought I was, and it would have been too late. I broke seven ribs on the left side in my back and then I broke five ribs on my left side in my front. I collapsed my left lung and the other one was just low, not fully inflated, so that's why I could hardly breathe. "I still can't breathe well. I lacerated my spleen, which here they caught it quick, but my vitals were alright. I was in trouble but I was in range. They said they wanted to get me stronger before doing anything. My blood pressure went right to zero and said I had to go now and I was bleeding out. They started me on blood transfusions, then took me down and went in through my groin and cut off the blood supply to the spleen so they could work on it. They basically glued it and cauterized it. They kept me down there for a good three hours and they just left everything in there and said, 'we're making sure it doesn't start leaking again.' It worked. "My spleen is still swollen. The spleen is below the stomach so when I eat at all, the stomach starts filling and starts putting pressure on my spleen, which is unbelievably painful. And the ribs are unbelievable," Stalbaum continued. "I am a lot better and they took me off the morphine, then off the ketamine and the oxygen, and so far I'm doing okay. They give me a nebulizer and these pump things to break up the mucus and help me get it all out. They keep monitoring me for blood clots and pneumonia." As quickly as the track turns, news turns around the horsemen community. First to gear into action was Ohio-based trainer Nick Clegg, who organized donation efforts on behalf of Stalbaum the morning after the accident. "I met Larry when I was 15 years old, and the first time I watched him drive horses he was instantly my childhood idol," Clegg said. "I knew nothing about the accident, except the next morning, Ron Cushing accidentally called Betty [Nick's wife]. My first thoughts were, 'oh my God, Larry is going to check himself out of the hospital this afternoon,'" Clegg continued. "I just know him, so my thoughts were if we could raise some money and ease the burden of paying employees, maybe that would keep him there." And so, Clegg posted on his Facebook page, announcing a raffle to raise money towards the cause. "When I announced the raffle, the only donations I had were Equine Block Socks and a whole bunch of gift cards that we had won at several county fairs that they gave out as gifts, so I thought that I would re-gift them. Other than that, my thoughts were hoping to get donations; that would be great, but if we didn't, I would just purchase the items myself and donate them because Larry would do the same for me," Clegg explained. "Fortunately, we had a lot of great people reach out, from the Spyder bike to LZR wheels to Brizy colors, Equine Block Socks, Kindness Creates, Bill Rhoades, and many others." The list of donations included the Spyder bike, LZR wheels, one month of training from Bill Rhoades, Block Socks, a helmet, signed colors, Brizy colors, trotting hopples, paddock buckets, gift cards from all over, gift baskets, miscellaneous gifts, and custom work from small businesses in harness racing. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter "I am guessing the money raised was around $15,000, not including the $6,000 from the bike and LZR wheels auctioned off last night," Clegg said. "As for how much the horsemen pulled together is absolutely astonishing to me. Forget about the people buying tickets or everyone wanting to donate and do whatever they could, another cool part is that a lot of the people who won donated things back." Along with some gift cards donated back, the race bike and wheels were both donated back to be auctioned off. "The biggest thing is the people. It isn't about the money they donated. It's about how many people care," Stalbaum said. "It just goes to show when somebody gets in trouble, everybody helps out. You forget all about your grudge matches and animosity towards each other and just know that could be you laying there. You help anybody that has a little trouble because you never know, one day it's gonna be you. A big shout out to Nick Clegg, he did unbelievable. He did that all his own. He didn't even call the Brizy colors people, they called him. Melissa Beckwith and Lisa Zabielski, they got a 50/50 for me. The Spyder bike guy, nobody reached out to him, he did it on his own. People just helping each other out." Former horseman and a friend of Stalbaum's from way back, John Wentworth III, won the race bike and donated it back to be raffled off, to which it generated another $6,000 towards the fund. "It's not about the money, we all just stick together when something happens. I can't say thanks enough," Stalbaum said. "Everyone has been by to make sure Brittany [Stalbaum's girlfriend] doesn't need anything. My help is stepping up to the plate, doing the extras and not worrying about it, knowing it has to get done. I just want to thank everybody." Midday on Tuesday, September 10, Stalbaum was released from the hospital. He was found at the barn instantly to visit his horses. "If you're just sitting there at the barn, at least you're there," Stalbaum said. Stalbaum started in the business at a young age and began driving at 14 years old. His start was in pony racing before he got into horse racing. He learned everything from pony racing, started working for other horsemen, and then went out on his own. He put his first stable together in Ohio with cheap horses he had bought off the Amish truck. He continued to progress, moving states and tracks, upgrading his stable, and going forward. In 2019, he settled in at Saratoga. Stalbaum's driving wins total 6,361 and he has another 1,517 victories as a trainer. In 2023 he had his best single-season earnings total as a trainer at $1.08 million and was certainly on pace to come close to that number in 2024 with north of $800K made so far. "I love training horses. I could not live without training horses. Every time I got down on horses and thought about just driving and then even tried it a few times, I couldn't take it. The worst thing for so many years, I got up and most drivers get home at midnight or 1 a.m., they sleep till 9 or 10 a.m., I am up at 4 or 5 a.m. It didn't matter what time I went to sleep, I was up," Stalbaum said. "I love my horses. I walk through my barn, I can talk to every one of them, they bring their head out of the gate. They like me, they like being around me. I like that. Probably my downfall in life, I like buying horses." Stalbaum's 44 wins this year have been headlined by his stakes victory with Rocknroll Runa A in the Sam McKee Memorial at the Meadowlands, a 68-1 upset in 1:47 3/5 with Mark MacDonald driving. "Winning races like the McKee mean everything to me," said Stalbaum. While he has driven nearly 44,000 races in his career, Stalbaum now focuses his attention on driving his own horses, with only a handful of catch drives in the mix throughout the year. Despite the setback of a couple of weeks ago, the newly-turned 61-year-old isn't planning to give up his seat in the sulky. "I definitely will get back in the bike. Two weeks for sure, I don't want to wait too long. 1-9 for sure," Stalbaum said. "I drove my first pony race when I was 14 and I am 61. I don't plan on stopping and I don't plan on being scared. I am a little leery now since my back, I don't like driving a lot, but I love driving. Driving Rocknroll Runa A and Big Box Hanover, I love it to death. Driving American Zest A, I never did like very well. I like driving, not that they have to be a world champion, just a good honest horse. Ashley Locaz N, I love driving him, he'll lay down and die for you. He knows how to find the wire. Those kinds of horses mean something to me. "At this point in my life, that's all I really have and that's all I really want. I don't want a big fancy house or cars or trucks; I just want to live out my life and go to the barn seven days a week and work. Every now and then, take off and go on a little vacation. That's all I really want." Throughout it all, Brittany Clark has been at Stalbaum's side. She ran out to the track to help free him and followed him to the hospital where she has rotated between there and the barn for the horses. "We want to give thanks to everybody that has given a helping hand," Clark said. "From the very start – horsemen Chris Long and Jimmy Devaux to the outrider Natalie and to the EMTs. Big thanks to Albany Medical Center for repairing his spleen. They were really spot on with that. A huge shout out to everybody that has contributed to the raffle put together by Nick Clegg and the horsemen. And a special shout out to Melissa Beckwith and Lisa Zabielski for putting on a 50/50. "To the people giving a helping hand, helping me race his horses, while he's been out. A huge thank you to Larry's employees, Migdy and Enrique, and a huge thank you to the horsemen as a whole and everyone else who has offered to help as well as those that have said prayers and given a hand. "We just want to thank everyone. It's been overwhelming and incredible," Clark concluded.