Horse Beckham
A challenge for veterinarians
Beckham became a huge animal emergency due to an injury to his left front leg. The owner was desperate and wanted to leave no stone unturned to save her ten-year-old Hanoverian.
Several vets and various physiotherapists used all their skills, but Beckham was not fit and was in pain. The last resort would have been euthanasia. Saddened and additionally tormented by a stroke of fate in the family, Beckham’s owner stood there and looked into her horse’s beautiful eyes: was all the effort for the black horse really going to be in vain?
Beckham became a patient at the Horse Health Centre in Egg, Switzerland
The owner learnt that Gut Aiderbichl cooperates directly with the Sandgrueb Foundation. The aim of this foundation is to improve the quality of life of horses with the help of the latest scientific and practical findings. A rehabilitation centre helps horses that often have a hopeless diagnosis to improve their condition.
Gut Aiderbichl consulted with the rehabilitation centre in Egg about “Becki’s” medical history. It soon became clear that Becki would not have to be euthanised.
The young, handsome gelding with the white crest on his forehead had never doubted that he could be helped. His eyes always shone with the joy of life and nobody wanted to believe that his situation was hopeless.
Dieter Ehrengruber and his team: "There's no such thing as impossible"
Countless horses that have been taken in as emergencies at Gut Aiderbichl have been helped time and time again in the past. All knowledge and expertise about the horses is utilised and all connections to clinics and vets are activated to save a horse’s life. But it should also be said that we too have our limits.
A solution had to be found quickly for Becki before he could be transferred to Switzerland. He needed a closed stable; spending the night outdoors would have been too strenuous for him. Becki was immediately admitted to Gut Aiderbichl in Henndorf. The vet and the grooms prepared Becki for transport to Egg.
Pain therapy improved the condition of the lame leg
Nothing was left out: pain therapy brought relief from the pain, the farrier produced an orthopaedic shoe and Becki put up with everything.
He liked the food, enjoyed being stroked to the full and his owner visited him as often as she could. The plan was to transport Becki to the rehabilitation centre in Egg, Switzerland, once his leg had stabilised properly.
The vets studied Becki’s clinical picture thoroughly once again. In any case, the doctors in Switzerland had two options to help the horse: a surgical nerve section or joint fusion.
The operation in Egg was a complete success
Two weeks after being admitted to Gut Aiderbichl, Becki was transported to Egg. He survived the journey well and the operation procedure was more or less clear: Becki should be able to walk normally and pain-free again.
The operation went according to plan and everyone was delighted when the first photos of Becki proudly walking upright arrived in Henndorf. “There’s no such thing as can’t” had once again proved to be true.
Becki is the winner
The doctors are satisfied with the result of the operation. Becki is walking normally, and when he picks up speed, he “switches off” his injured leg and walks on three legs. This is an incredible sensation when you consider that he should have been euthanised.
Becki’s eyes light up with the doctors, Dieter Ehrengruber and the horse farmers in Henndorf. But only one person is the winner: Becki – he always believed that he would live on and that there was a solution to his injury.
These procedures are very costly, so a big thank you to all the sponsors, the doctors at the rehab centre and all the animal lovers who believed in Beckham.
Listen carefully when hope whispers, “Keep trying.”
From: Gisela Pschenitschnig, Gut Aiderbichl
