8 years ago, we received a devastating report of a beautiful, young pony with a destroyed hind leg.
A foster, Michelle, picked him up for us, and Dr. Steve Walker did X rays on the thing, neglected young stallion.
Not only did he have a fracture that had healed and turned his foot under to where he was walking on exposed bone, he also had cryptorchidism (meaning gelding him would require a particularly invasive procedure).
It really seemed, based on initial exam, he was a hopeless situation, as repairing an old broken leg in a pony, and expecting a pain free, sound future for 20 plus more years seemed impossible.
At the recommendation of Dr. Walker, we sent the X rays to Ohio State. They asked to see the pony, as they thought a new, never done before procedure may change his life.
We were able, through his foster’s contacts, to raise the funding specifically for both surgeries. It was new and innovative, and no one knew if it would be a success, but this little pony had so much try, and the professionals felt it was something important to be tried.
So we did.
The leg was re-broken, re-set, cast and Mark Sullivan, a very talented farrier, began different types of hand made shoes to support him during his healing.
Turner recovered. He is pain free and sound.
His story is in the medical journals, we are told, at Ohio State. Hopefully, his procedure taught that generation of vets what is possible and has helped other equines. A neighbor of his adopter just reached out and told us how much her 3 year old son loved Turner and visits him often. This adorable photo shoot with the little boy and Turner just melted my soul!
There is a sweet, somewhat fictionalized version of his story written by Suzanna and Illustrated by Abby W. that you can download on Amazon here:
You can watch his intake and recovery video (with tissues) here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3bjUrEUh6o
Merry Christmas, Y’all.
Miracles happen, for us and for the horses, all the time.
