A Very Lucky Horse

This is Ben

Ben was born windswept. We took him to an equine specialist at only a few days old to see what could be done as both his front and back legs were bent badly.

The vet said to give him Adequan injections and showed us how to trim him every week to encourage his legs to straighten. His back leg corrected itself and his front leg started doing better. He was almost normal for a bit.

But then as soon as we thought he might get better, he got much worse. Another trip to the vet was fruitless. Radiographs were taken and no surgery would help. We considered euthanizing Ben--we didn't want him to have a life filled with pain, but the vet assured us his quality of life was not yet compromised, so we brought him home, hoping we could find the right home to adopt him out to. He was so incredibly sweet and loving, I wanted to give him a chance to live out as much of his life as his body would allow.

Several people responded, but none made me feel comfortable enough that Ben's needs would be taken care of, including that one hard day when his quality of life would be compromised and his new owner would be called upon to release him from his pain. This is a lot to ask anyone to take on, but Lucy Flannagen answered the call.

Lucy has had Ben since he was weaned. He is three years old now, a gorgeous bay gelding whom she loves and takes incredibly good care of. Just recently Ben had tendon surgery to make him more comfortable. This is a picture of him before his surgery--I will share the after pictures once I get them. It's clear to see he is well loved and cared for--he is glowing with health. His leg has obviously changed a lot and he will always have some sort of issue with it, but Lucy is dedicated to giving Ben as full of a life as possible.

What a lucky horse. There are not many people that would give a crippled up horse such a wonderful, loving home. Thank you so much, Lucy. You're truly Ben's angel!