This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 2:22 PM- KANAB - It sure beats getting shot.
Instead of the stereotypical fate of a horse with a leg injury, the life of Riley now includes green pastures, regular grooming, molasses cookies and a prosthetic leg.
Riley, a 16-year-old quarterhorse from Fredonia, Ariz., arrived home last week at Best Friends Animal Society after an operation in Sheridan, Wyo.
And even though Riley walks like people do in ski boots and has some trouble on soft ground, the four-year-old injury is behind her after an amputation in May.
Her surgeon, Ted P. Vlahos, was in Kanab on Tuesday to visit Riley.
"It's the same kind of graphite and titanium [prosthetic] a human would be fitted with," Vlahos said.
Best Friends' Horse Haven manager Jen Reid said Riley arrived at the animal sanctuary in 2004 after suffering lacerated tendons.
Reid said it's unknown how Riley was hurt, but said the horse was suffering and likely would have died without help.
"When she walked, she knuckled over on her hoof," Reid said.
Veterinarians at the sanctuary tried to aid Riley by realigning the mare's leg joint with metal plates and screws, but she remained in pain and developed infections.
Best Friends veterinarian Tara Timpson, said sanctuary volunteers told them about Vlahos.
After examining Riley, Vlahos determined she qualified for a prosthetic leg and had the horse sent to Sheridan Equine Hospital.
Vlahos, who has done similar operations on 16 other horses, amputated the leg above its hock then fitted the horse with a prosthetic fabricated by Hanger Prosthetics.
"It was customized to fit the horse just like it would be for a human,"Vlahos said.
He said the fake limb must be removed and the stump rubbed and cleaned before the prosthesis is attached.
Vlahos said a horse prosthesis costs about $20,000, the same as for humans.
He said it's "old school" to believe horses with broken limbs must be euthanized considering advancements in veterinarian medicine.
"With new techniques, it's not necessary to kill them," Vlahos said. "Many can receive a prosthetic and lead relatively normal lives."
Even so, he doesn't second-guess the decision earlier this year to euthanize racehorse Eight Belles after a fall during the Preakness Derby or the death of Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby champion that shattered his leg and was killed in January 2007.
"Thoroughbreds are incredible equine athletes and tolerate [prosthetic] limbs well," he said.
Timpson said Riley will live out her days at Best Friends.
"She has a great pasture here with a bunch of boyfriends that don't like it when she leaves." mhavnes@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">mhavnes@sltrib.com