Valiant enjoying the paddock

Valiant

As a three- and four-year-old, Valiant ran in 43 races at east coast tracks. This handsome brown gelding couldn't run quite fast enough, consistently enough, to earn his own keep. When he pulled up lame in November, 2000, with a bad knee, his racing career came to a halt. In December, 2000, he joined Eye of the Storm as the resident lap puppy, easily the world's most affectionate and people-loving Thoroughbred.

An examination and radiographs taken by our veterinarian, Dr. Lindsay Robbins, revealed several bone chips in the joints of his left knee. Valiant had two arthroscopic surgeries in early 2001 to remove the bone fragments: first at the Brimfield, Mass., Large Animal Clinic and then at the Rochester Equine Clinic in Rochester, NH.

He's now doing very well, though he has occasional setbacks. Not surprisingly, the joint movement in his left knee is severely restricted, and xrays now show arthritic changes, so he's on several feed supplements -- glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, yucca and antioxidants -- to keep him comfortable and help heal his damaged joints and ligaments. In July, 2001, Valiant left Eye of the Storm to live with his new owner a few miles away. After therapy and lots of long quiet walks, he's doing well under saddle and has learned a second career as a trail horse. Although he will never regain enough flexion in the knee to jump (except to jump the fence of his new home within five minutes of his arrival!) or participate in any competition, he's a wonderful pleasure horse and he seems to appreciate his quiet life away from the track. And he has a home for life.

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