Twizzles Story:
Three years ago Habitat for Horses rescued over two dozen horses being severely starved by their owner. One of the herds mares was a pretty paint thought to be about four. She stood out because her left front leg bent out at about 45 degrees. Initially it was thought that the leg was broken but a vet later determined that the leg had been defective since her birth.
Habitat was faced with the decision of having her put down or having the leg fixed. It was a tough call because of the cost but since this mare had managed to survive for four years out in a pasture without further hurting the leg, it wouldn't have been fair not to give her a chance to live a normal life.
The operation fused the mares leg at her knee. Weeks of rehab were in store for her. As with Barbaro, there was a danger of founder in her other front leg.
The mare was dubbed Twizzle Sticks by her doctor and her personality endeared her to the hospital staff and volunteers who visited with her. She had two very special little girl friends that came on a daily basis to massage her legs and generally pet and love her.
When she was completely recovered, Twizzle was offered for adoption as a companion only horse. Her leg was perfectly fine for most activities but riding her was not an option. The folks who adopted her understood that limitation but after a year, decided that they wanted a horse that could be ridden and returned Twizzle to Habitat.
The Habitat adoption team contacted Larry and I since they knew that we had one extra stall in the temporary run-ins we had built prior to the barn going up. They offered Twizzle to us because they knew that once she came through our gate, she would never face being moved around again.
We only had one concern in taking her. Our herd at that time was made up of pretty active horses and we were not sure Twizzle would be able to keep up with them without hurting herself. We were assured that her bionic leg was so strong it was likely she would break the other three before that one would be hurt.
Twizzle came to the ranch almost a year ago and fit in with the others in a matter of days. She became the herd mom since the lead mare role was already filled by Aurora. She also acts as Charleys consort; they graze together with Aurora as a family unit.
Since Twizzles leg does not bend, trimming her presented an opportunity for Larry to learn something new. He cajoled Twizzles farrier into driving here (about two hours north of her normal range) and coaching him for his initial trim of her. What he learned from her farrier he has later been able to apply to some of the elders who have leg problems and cannot have their hoof lifted high to trim.
Twizzle walks with a limp, trots with a cute little hop, and canters a bit oddly. None of this matters to anyone here. She can keep up with the rest who have normal legs and handles herself just fine. She gets the arthritis supplement we normally reserve for the elders since the first xray of her bad knee three years ago showed arthritis had started. She is very socialized, probably from all the pets and care she received from the hospital folks. Except for the times when she rolls in the mud, she is extremely pretty with perfect tobiano paint markings. Even though it means more grooming work for us, we are glad to see her enjoying a roll. She is happy being a normal horse thanks to caring people and dedicated veterinarians.
If you are interested in a more detailed account of Twizzles operation, check out her story on the Habitat website at:
www.habitatforhorses.org/stories/twizzlesstory.html
