People save stray animals all the time. A lost cat. A dog found with a hurt paw. But an
injured stray horse along the roadside? Oh, yes. It happens.
The call came into Tulsa Animal Welfare (TAW) in October of 2018. A horse with a seriously injured hind leg had been found on the side of a road near 4800 North Lewis.
The extent of his injury would have prevented the horse from walking any distance on his own, so it was clear he had been abandoned there. Because he was loose within the city limits, animal control officers from the Tulsa shelter responded, and the horse was transported back to the shelter to see if owners could be identified.
As you can imagine, a shelter facility designed for the care of dogs, cats and other small animals is not necessarily equipped to handle livestock. But the horse needed to complete a stray hold just like any other domestic animal would, so he was initially secured in a fenced area behind the shelter building.
TAW was only authorized by the city of Tulsa to spend a minimal amount of money to have
an equine veterinarian assess the horse’s injured leg. When confronted by the magnitude of the injury, the veterinarian who responded to the call cleaned the wound as thoroughly as possible and administered an initial dose of antibiotics.
The normal protocol with stray livestock recovered within the city limits is for TAW to transfer the animal to the Tulsa Stockyard for a 72-hour holding period. Unclaimed animals are then sold at auction. This horse, however, desperately needed immediate emergency care. Without timely intervention and hospitalization, the leg would be beyond salvage, and the only recourse would be euthanasia.
The shelter manager put out a plea on Facebook to see if the owner of the horse might surface to take responsibility for the animal. Despite hundreds of shares and comments, no one came forward to claim the handsome sorrel-colored paint horse. But one important person did take notice of the horse’s plight.
Lindsay Henry has had horses most of her life. She has trained them, shown them and even bred a colt that became a world champion halter stallion. But first and foremost, she loves them. Her own horses live exceptionally good lives with attentive care, top nutrition and a doting owner. They want for nothing. To see a horse in such a dire situation spurred Lindsay into immediate action.
Lindsay contacted one of her trusted personal veterinarians, Dr. Erica Wallace, to discuss the horse. As luck would have it, the veterinarian who had initially called on the horse at the shelter worked for Wallace at her clinic. Wallace was already fully briefed on the horse’s condition and the gravity of his injury.
Knowing they were racing the clock to save the horse’s leg, Lindsay contacted the shelter manager to see if she and her husband, Jeff Henry, could arrange to foster the horse so they could begin life-saving treatment. The shelter quickly arranged for the horse to have a medical release into the Henrys’ care for the remainder of his hold period.
Wallace made another visit to the shelter to bandage the leg and make the horse as comfortable as possible. Without a second thought, Lindsay hitched her trailer and raced to meet her new foster horse, whom she named Bubby.
Even Lindsay, who is no stranger to helping care for sick or injured horses, was taken aback when she realized the extent of the damage to Bubby’s leg. The injury had likely been sustained and left untreated for at least three days. It appeared the paint’s leg had become trapped in a fence or some wire, and by jerking his leg back and forth to try to gain freedom, he essentially sawed through his own flesh and into his canon bone.
Bubby’s extensor tendon had been completely severed. He had also ruptured his peroneus tertius, likely a result of hyperextension of the leg when he was struggling to free it. With both tendons compromised, Bubby was unable to lift and place his back foot.
To add to the already daunting list of challenges, Bubby suffered from an untreated case of laminitis, a painful inflammatory condition also known as founder, in both front hooves.
Often, with injuries this extreme and the level of treatment required to try to save and restore the leg, many horse owners would opt to humanely euthanize the animal. That answer is certainly not wrong. But that is not the answer Lindsay decided to pursue.
She loaded the horse into her personal trailer by having her father lead him while she walked alongside him and physically supported his injured leg with each step. She then hauled him straight to Wallace for hospitalization.
Wallace immediately addressed the multiple issues the horse was facing. She thought he might have a chance to survive if antibiotic perfusions were performed to provide a high concentration of antimicrobial therapy directly to the affected area. Additionally, Wallace performed surgery to address bone sequestration, a condition in which bone that has been exposed to the air begins to die and separate from healthy bone.
From a long-term care standpoint, the horse would need careful bandaging with a pulley system affixed to the front of a specially designed shoe to support the leg while the wound healed and tissue granulated to take the place of the tendon. Without the pulley aiding the horse in standing and taking steps, the foot would drag, impeding recovery and potentially causing further damage.
Finally, Bubby would also require corrective shoes for several months and ongoing trims by a specialist to address the chronic laminitis in his front feet. For most people, the expensive ongoing treatment plan would seem completely overwhelming—especially for an animal that is not technically yours.
But Lindsay knew the sweet-natured gelding deserved a chance. Undaunted, she formally adopted Bubby from TAW after his holding period expired. Then she and her team of veterinarians—expanded to include the expertise of equine podiatry specialist Dr. Sammy Pittman—got to work.
Bubby was hospitalized with Wallace for two weeks. After that, he moved to the barn where the Henrys board and care for their other eight horses. With that move, the bulk of Bubby’s care fell on Lindsay and Jeff’s shoulders day in and day out.
Bubby’s wound had to be cleaned, and extensive layers of bandages had to be changed every five days without fail. Lindsay performed that task religiously, even dragging herself to the barn when she was ill with a fever. Bubby had to hold very still and could not jerk his leg while the pulley was detached, and Lindsay was tending the wound.
Every bandage change required Lindsay’s husband Jeff and often another assistant to keep Bubby steady while Lindsay worked. These bandage changes went on without fail for 18 months.
Wallace made routine visits to assess the wound and perform any additional treatment necessary. Bubby’s front feet had to be trimmed by Pittman every four weeks—a process that would need to continue for the life of the horse to control damage done by neglect. And with the focus on all of Bubby’s physical issues, Lindsay also had to address the horse’s mental well-being.
“When we first met, Bubby was an incredibly sweet horse, never offering to lash out despite everything he had been through, but he was also very nervous,” she explained. “If you approached him in his stall, he would immediately move to the farthest corner away from you, and he was terrified of having his head touched, flinching and shutting his eyes if you simply reached up to pet him.”
It took months of patient work to teach Bubby that he would be handled gently, without force or fear. Slowly, as his body healed, so did his mind. Instead of moving away as Lindsay called out to him upon arriving at the barn, he started nickering in anticipation.
After 10 months of complete stall rest, he was able to go for short walks on lead beside Lindsay to the end of the barn aisle and back to his stall. After 18 months of continuous bandage changes, the wound on Bubby’s leg finally closed completely, and the horse was able to gradually enjoy more exercise and freedom.
Over the course of the last four months, Lindsay has been able to start retraining the horse who was previously so scared to be handled. “You could tell he had always been treated roughly and ridden hard, likely in small rodeo events. He was not fully trained; he just knew that a rider and an arena meant he should run full out from one end to the other.”
With patience, a lot of groundwork and a gentle hand, Lindsay is turning Bubby into a calm, happy pleasure horse. “I don’t think he has ever been mothered,” she said with a laugh. Now, Bubby can be ridden, is learning good manners and is no longer afraid to have Lindsay reach up to slip a halter over his head or smooth his forelock.
Bubby is thriving. When asked what the future holds for the horse, Lindsay is quick to smile and reply, “He’s a Henry for life.” He will never again be mistreated. He will always receive the best of care. He has his own paddock and shelter that he now shares with a special friend, Skylar the Nubian goat. Skylar needed a place to call home, and Bubby needed a calm friend. It is a perfect match.
Bubby’s training will continue, and he is, after more than two years of recovery, sound to go for rides. He will never again be asked to be a rodeo horse. All that will be required of him is to be his sweet, happy self and to enjoy his life. A job that suits him perfectly.
