Keeping the Faith by Louise Clarke REGULAR READERS of RTN will be aware of Faith, the Easy Horse Care Rescue Centre (EHCRC) horse that last year underwent pioneering surgery to remove part of one of her legs and be fitted with a prosthetic limb. This week RTN visited Faith at the hospital in Barcelona where the operation took place and where she is recuperating following a slight set back earlier this year with pressure sores to the affected leg. Surrounded by lush green countryside, Faith is living the life of horsey luxury. Following concerns for her wellbeing made by members of the horse community in the area, RTN was keen to see how she is doing and speak to Gaspar Castelijns, the vet who performed the life changing operation NO PAIN Gaspar has just returned from preparing the horses of Spain’s dressage team for the London Olympics, so RTN was very privileged to be able to take an hour of his time to exclusively discuss this cheeky but stubborn little pony that has won the hearts of people up and down the Costa Blanca. Gaspar told RTN: “Faith is in no pain at all. She has recently had some skin grafts to help with the pressure sores but she is coping well and has adapted amazingly to the prosthetic limb.” Faith undertakes two sessions of physiotherapy a day as well as tens machine therapy which relaxes the mus-
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cles around her stump, but as all the nerve endings were capped during the amputation, she feels no pain there. In fact Raquel, the nurse who cares for Faith on a daily basis, says she has no need at all for any medication except sometimes a mild dose of anti-inflammatories when her stump gets swollen, which is very common in amputees. She said: “We are amazed by how well she is coping with the new limb.” HAPPY AS LARRY Raquel also told RTN that Faith doesn’t have the leg on permanently but only for a few hours over the course of the day. But she can walk so well with the prosthetic limb that once it has been fitted, she immediately leaves her stable, walks across the yard and down a short slope onto the grazing area without any Gaspar problems at all. and She then grazes on the lush green Faith grass with complete ease. She can also bear weight down on the prosthetic limb and the other front leg is coping well with the added pressure, despite a little arthritis which was evident before the operation as a result of the injury she sustained before her rescue. She is also now able to use her hind legs as added support as and when she needs it. With bright eyes and a shiny coat, it was quite evident to RTN that Faith is as happy as Larry. The only thing that she was frustrated with was all the flies that surrounded her as she grazed. Faith will remain in Barcelona until October when she will return to the EHCRC in Rojales, a new woman!
Borja restoration goes slightly wrong… IN THE little town of Borja, Aragon, the local council is considering legal action against an elderly resident, an 80-year-old lady who with the best of intentions but without any authority decided to ‘restore’ the painting Ecce Homo by Elías García Martínez (an image of Christ crucified) an ancient fresco in the Iglesia del Santuario de Misericordia. The cure was worse than the disease and now the picture once known as the Ecce Homo has now been dubbed ‘Ecce Mono’ (Mono means ‘monkey’). The before and after pictures of the fresco tell the whole story…