After an attack that left Shine the miniature horse with a mangled leg and hoof, CSU veterinarians fixed him up to run on rubber.
In March, the 30-inch tall, 150-pound horse, was fitted with an artificial hoof with a foam liner and bike-tire treads at Colorado State University’s James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
Shine lost his left rear leg after the attack at his home in Florence last December. A veterinarian told his owner, Jacque Corsentino, 52, the assailant was likely a dog or coyote.
“When I went out to feed him that morning, he didn’t meet me at the gate,” Corsentino said Wednesday. “When I got to him I noticed he was full of blood. My dog was there, and we believe he was trying to protect Shine, because he was covered in blood and he is not aggressive at all.”
She treated Shine herself for two months with guidance from a veterinarian, who periodically checked on the animal while she administered pain medication and antibiotics.
“Something wasn’t right, and he wasn’t getting better. I called and got a second opinion and ended up at CSU,” Corsentino said.
Radiographs revealed fractures in small bones that extend into the hoof.
Laurie Goodrich,50, an associate professor of equine orthopaedics, led a two-hour surgery to amputate the infected hoof and the hinge joint of the lower leg.
Relying on measurements taken from the horse’s radiographs, Goodrich used a 3-D printer to build a replica of his hoof, and the bones, which allowed Shine to stay balanced while he healed.
Shine’s size made him a good candidate for the surgery. A full-sized horse can weigh between 800 and 2,000 pounds, a weight that makes it difficult to fit an artificial limb capable of carrying the load, Goodrich said.
Shine’s new hoof was made by OrthoPets, a Westminster maker of animal prosthetics. Shine is the fourth horse to get an OrthoPets hoof, CSU said in a news release.
“The prosthesis goes down to the hoof, and overlaying that is a mountain bike tire. It’ s cheap and convenient, and when it wears out, you go out and get a new tire tread and put it on the prosthesis,” Goodrich said.
Horses with broken bones and dangerous infections like Shine’s are usually euthanized when normal treatment fails.
It was the first time that Goodrich, a vet for 25 years, has performed the surgery. “There was no other option. He had to have a prosthesis. The other choice was to end his life.”
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671, tmcghee@denverpost.com or @dpmcghee
