Saving Horses

The summer that Barbaro, The Kentucky Derby winner, went down, the Arlington Racecourse in suburban Chicago had something like 23 horses break down on the track. So I followed Barbaro's progress pretty closely, hoping that veterinary medicine was getting better fast enough. Unfortunately, he didn't make it.

So this story means something to me. See these pictures? They are from Best Friends Animal Society. And that? Is a horse with an artifical leg. Here is what they have to say:

"It's a practice so common in the horse world that it's become a given: If a horse breaks his leg, or develops a severe infection in it, there’s nothing to be done other than put him down.
That conventional wisdom, however, is being challenged by Riley, a female buckskin quarter horse living at Horse Haven at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.

Instead of euthanizing Riley for a severe leg infection, Best Friends gave her a second lease on life by having her leg amputated and fitted with an artificial limb. She is one of about 80 horses in the U.S. now happily living out the remainder of their lives thanks to this advance in equine medicine."

It has only been a few months since the surgery, but so far, so good for this horse. Thanks to Best Friends for taking this huge step forward. You can read the whole story here.