Oliver's Story

We would like everyone to meet Oliver.
Oliver and his mother came into our lives
quite by accident. We had gone to look at
a stud we were considering for our mares
and in the process of looking at his babies
encountered Oliver. As happens
sometimes, Oliver's owner had recently
had some really tough times, her husband
had been seriously ill and she was trying to
take care of the farm herself. She offered
Oliver and his mother to me if I would
promise to take care of them both. I took a
week to think over the fact that I was
inheriting a huge vet bill but couldn't get that
poor, twisted baby out of my mind. Oliver
had been born and injured his back hoof.
The hoof was almost gone and he was
walking on his pastern, the stress had
taken it's toll on the front legs and the
knees were swollen and deformed. He
had a 12 degree deformity to the right leg
and a 35 degree to the left leg. The coffin
bone in the injured back hoof was rotated
and almost coming out the sole, as in a
horse that had been foundered, hence the
name, Oliver Twist! To add to our
problems he had never really been handled
and was terrified of people. His mother.
Corey is a gorgeous, well mannered,
talented warmblood with an extensive show

career in USPC. Our vet
Dr. Yvonne Liddell
recommended surgery for
the front legs. Dr. Alicia
Bertone at Ohio State
performed the surgery on
12/5. She did a
transphyseal bridge on the
left front and a periosteal
strip on the right. The
back hoof was rebuilt with
acrylic and trimmed, it
looks almost normal and
he is walking on it well.
Oliver will need to go back
to OSU shortly to have the
screw and wire removed
from the left leg, it should
then be 100%. His
prognosis is very good.
He is now enjoying a
normal life playing with the
other weanlings and is
learning to trust us. He is
leading well and is halter
broke and quite a
sweetheart, although still a
little worried.

We took Oliver back to OSU to have his screws and wires removed in July. After a long
battle with infection and lameness we went back to OSU only to be told that Oliver would
remain lame. We elected to have him put down. Amazingly, wonderful farrier work by Wylie
Shultz in consultation with Dr. Liddell had almost completely corrected the back hoof which
was originally the source of the problem. The consolation that we have is that for almost 5
months Oliver was sound and happy running, bucking, and playing with Dusty and Chester. He
overcame alot of setbacks to be a trusting, and happy yearling. Had we not gone through the
surgery he never would have know what it was like to be a happy little horse at all. We
watched him begin to grow into the handsome gelding he was destined to be. I am very
disillusioned with orthopedic surgery, I don't feel that the outlook was ever as good as I was
told it would be. Through much research I have learned that this type of surgery almost never
produces a sound horse for life and although the leg does straighten it is rarely without arthritic
changes, pain, and eventual lameness. It was a learning experience and we all were forever
changed by our love for Oliver Twist. Despite all the money, time, and heartache; if I had it to
do over again I would still bring him home.