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February 1, 2011

Lanida - The Miracle Horse

In 2010, LRF and Matt Coleman purchased Lanida, a daughter of Lion Heart out of the stakes placed Rahy mare Seth’s Choice. We were hoping for a successful two-year-old season from the filly. Unfortunately, those dreams were shattered – literally – when Lanida kicked her foot through a fence, and lost her entire hoof wall.

The story begins in Ocala where Lanida was training forwardly at McCrocklin’s training center. “Every morning before going back to her stall, she liked to go into a little outdoor paddock and just be a horse,” said McCrocklin. “On one particular morning, she was feeling good about herself and she was bucking and kicking and playing and… I heard the pop. Scared the hell out of me.” McCrocklin quickly went over and saw what he would call “one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen”. The filly’s outer wall was literally torn off of her hoof leaving the foot exposed and covered in blood. In human terms, imagine ripping one of your fingernails – the entire thing – clean off your finger.

Thankfully, McCrocklin and the team of vets quickly attended to Lanida. They cleaned and wrapped the foot – fearful of infection setting in – and put her on antibiotics. Unlike a human, when a horse has such a severe foot injury, laminitis – a killer among horses – could set in on the other – weight bearing – foot. The first 48 hours is crucial, but Lanida had quite a few well wishers on her side – including her great many LRF Partners who called and emailed their support and prayers.

Remarkably, Lanida made it through the first 48 hours with no complications. Then a week went by without any more problems. After a couple more weeks, the vets told us she was out of danger. In fact, the new, healthy hoof had already started to grow back.

Today, Lanida continues training in Ocala. She’s already had her first quarter mile breeze for McCrocklin. The foot continues to heal and the vets expect her to make it as a race horse. We are all hopeful this little miracle filly will run in the LRF silks this summer at Del Mar.