Spartan
Name: Spartan Breed: Paint Foaling date: July 14, 2015 Satus: Retired in facility
Spartan has been with us since May 2017
Spartan crossed our path back in May 2017.
All we wanted to do was to donate a few bales of hay to a family which asked for help on CraigsList saying they where in a financial crises.
Spartan (former Dillon) was still a stud, locked up in a very small round pen without any shade, an empty water bucket and it was very obvious he was in pain because he was completely off balance. His right hind was way shorter and far more undeveloped than his left hind.
It broke our hearts seeing how much he wanted to be with the other two horses that lived on that farm. For him, being in his small round pen was all he knew since he was a colt. Even more heart breaking was watching him try to put his head under the fence to get a bite of the grass that was growing all around him...all he had was dirt underneath his feet.
The story goes that his former owners got him at Shipshewana trying to save him from slaughter.
Supposedly he was run over by another stud at his breeding place which is how he got his injury. They told us they had a vet look at his leg who said he was going to be OK, however they never thought of actually getting a second opinion. That was a big question mark to us.
After almost two weeks of sleepless nights trying to decide if we should help him we made an offer....picked him up the next day and took him straight to our vet´s clinic.
He got gelded right away, his vaccines, coggins and of course his injury checked out. The results where very devastating! He needed surgery as soon as possible because his stifle.
At this point we decided to call him "SPARTAN"...after the ancient warriors and because he was a fighter growing up in constant pain.
To give him some relief for his pain he got injections in his stifle and after staying three days in the clinic we picked him up and brought him to his new home.
What a happy boy he was being released in a pasture with grass 🙂
We kept him separated from our girls for the next ten days and put a lot of work into showing him that a human touch can be gentle. He was so excited when he finally got to go into the same pasture with our girls.
The next few month he got basic training so it would be safe to be with him in a stall after his surgery. After quite a few bites and some unpleasant encounters it was time for him to have surgery at MSU in November 2017.
The surgery brought him a lot of relief and his coordination became a lot better.
Even after the surgery Spartan continues to need injections in his stifle.
The fact that none of his feet/legs are straight will more than likely also bring problems in the future.
Currently he is on a dose of glucosamine every day.
Spartan is a good boy and has come a long way but still has a lot to learn.
If you would like to Sponsor Spartan like a Co-Parent we would really appreciate it.
Of course you could come see him once a month but if you would like to have close
contact with a horse you can choose one of our other, safer horses which are up for
Co-Parenting.