Some amazing teenagers did a fundraiser and sold their riding gear to save Luther, a horse they used to know at riding school.
Luther was living at a riding school, where the kinds got to know and love him. After the owners took him away, nobody knew what happened to him, until the teenagers saw an advertisement of Luther being sold for €800 as a riding horse. A saddle balanced on his spine, he was old, skinny and terminally lame. The girls organized a fundraiser to save him and brought him to us.
His muscles were so deteriorated that his back legs buckled under his giant frame. His feet were rotten with thrush, a bacterial infection, and he has significant problems with the bones in his left front foot, causing him a lot of pain in his leg.
He was scared, shut down and angry, a shell of the almighty horse he once was.
First, he struggled to gain weight. Luther is a giant, he arrived to us skin and bones and he needs a lot of food to get back to a healthy weight. His huge feet are another big problem. He suffers from abscesses because there is a lack of density to his soles. After an x-ray we found out that he suffers from a lot of arthritis in his feet and lower joints, most likely as a result from showjumping. In his front left foot he has problems with the pedal bone. Currently Luther is on natural pain medication and we work closely with the vet to continue to find the best way to help him.
Luther is a little bit of a problem child. When he is in pain, he can be irritated and angry. This is most likely the reason he has been passed from home to home. He is also very protective and combative about food. This resource guarding is a thing we see often with horses that were starved. With the correct exercise management and medication we can keep his pain at bay. As we are still figuring out all of his problems, he needs a lot of vet care. At the moment he is a work in progress, but we strive to get to a point where he is not bothered by his health challenges and he can let his guard down, enjoying life at our sanctuary.
Donations made for Luther help us pay for the vet care he receives for his feet and arthritis, for his medication and for the food to keep his giant belly full.
If you would like to sponsor Luther monthly, you will get first hand updates about his rehabilitation, vet visits, treatment plans and progress. Every penny donated goes straight to his rehabilitation. You’ll receive your own personalised login details for our Sponsor page on the website to see the updates.
