Equine Prothesis: Molly the Pony, A True Story, children’s book.

[Carl Russell]

I received this is an e-mail. Thought you all might like to see it.

Quote:

Ya gotta meet Molly….

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Meet Molly.She’s a grey speckled pony who
was abandoned by her owners when Hurricane
Katrina hit southern Louisiana . She spent weeks
on her own before finally being rescued and taken
to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled..
while there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier
and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became
infected, and her vet went to LSU for help, but
LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare
case. You know how that goes.

But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he
changed his mind. He saw how the pony was
careful to lie down on different sides so she didn’t
seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to
handle her. She protected her injured leg. She
constantly shifted her weight and didn’t overload
her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious
survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee,
and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly
walked out of the clinic and her story r ea lly
begins there.

‘This was the right horse and the right owner,’
Moore insists. Molly happened to be a
one-in-a-million patient. She’s tough as nails, but sweet,

and she was willing to cope with pain.
She made it obvious she understood that she was
in trouble.The other important factor, according
to Moore , is having a truly committed and compliant
owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care
required over the lifetime of the horse.

Molly’s story turns into a parable for life in
Post-Katrina Louisiana ……The little pony gained weight,

and her mane finally felt a comb.

A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life,
Allison Barca DVM, Molly’s regular vet, reports.

And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out,
and come to you and let you know that she wants
you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take
lt off too. And sometimes, Molly gets away from
Barca. ‘It can be pretty bad when you can’t catch
a three-legged horse,’ she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay,
the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to
shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation
centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed
hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people
her pluck. She inspired people, and she had a
good time doing it.

‘It’s obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to
play in life, Moore said. She survived the hurricane,
she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving
hope to others.’

Barca concluded, ‘She’s not back to normal, but
she’s going to be better…To me, she could be a
symbol for New Orleans itself.’

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This is Molly’s most recent prosthesis. The bottom
photo shows the ground surface that she stands on,
which has a smiley face embossed in it.. Wherever
Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind.

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Animals often reflect the
character we aspire to.

[near horse]

Hi Carl –

Pretty interesting story. Over at the nearby university I have occasionally seen horses with prosthetic legs – one had a foreleg and another a hind. They seem to get around alright and the prosthetics weren’t anything elaborate – the foreleg looked like a piece of pipe up to the elbow. Needless to say, the gait was sort of a pegleg walk.

Animals are truly resilient.

[Carl Russell]

After I posted this thread I was contacted by the author of the book that this story and photos came from. Her name is Pam Kaster.

Molly the Pony, A True Story is a children’s picture book. The book won the 2008 ASPCA Henry Bergh’s Children’s Nonfiction Humane Heroes Award and is available for purchase at Amazon.

Below is an image of the book cover.

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Quote:

“Every child, everyone affected by Hurricane Katrina, and every animal lover will adore this sentimental yet informative book about the true story of Molly the Pony.”—ForeWord Magazine
Molly the pony waits. She waits in her stall. She waits during the storm. She waits for her owner to return.
So begins the true story of a patient pony who is rescued from a south Louisiana barn after Hurricane Katrina and finds a new life on a farm with new animal friends. But Molly’s tale of courage does not end here.
When a dog on the farm attacks Molly, her front leg is badly injured. For a pony, a damaged leg is life threatening. To the amazement of veterinarians, though, Molly rises to her new challenge. She undergoes a rare surgery for horses: amputation of her front leg. Now fitted with a prosthetic limb, Molly relearns how to walk and embarks again on a new mission in life: making new people friends.
This plucky pony’s story of survival and friendship will win the hearts of readers young and old. All who have had to start over after displacement, abandonment, injury, or amputation will find a friend in Molly as they follow her story of bringing a smile to everyone she meets.
Pam Kaster is the author of Zydeco Goes to Horse Camp, an editor of the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association newsletter, and a member of Equine Photographers Network. She managed an equestrian riding program for disabled riders for three years and continues to study natural horsemanship techniques. She has been a Red Cross disaster-preparedness volunteer for twenty years and managed a Red Cross shelter during Hurricane Katrina. She lives in Zachary, Louisiana, with her husband, three horses, three dogs, and a cat. Her website is http://www.bayouponytales.com.

This is an interesting story, not just the book, but the story about this contact. I received the original e-mail with no attention to the fact that this was the intellectual property of ms. Kaster. She was alerted to the posting here through google-alert that her copyrighted material was being used without her permission. When she contacted me I assured her that this site was in no way trying to take advantage of her work, and I offered to post more info to her advantage.

Please take note of this, because it affects all of us who take our work seriously, and put information and ideas onto the internet.

Carl

[Author]

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