Joc gets a new helpful hoof
by

Brenda Locklear

Sumter County (FL) Times
2/12/2004

About 7 months ago, Christina Dixon's Welsh bay pony Joc damaged his leg. What was a bowed tendon, left permanent damage as a contracted tendon.
While he was able to use his foot for several months, things changed over the last several weeks. More of the tendon has contracted, making it more difficult for Joc to get around. He's been to the vet and been soaked and bandaged and more, but it hasn't improved.
Dixon said there's no guarantee of success through surgery and that it might even kill him because Joc is 30 now.
"The whole idea of letting my little friend go was pretty painful, especially because he didn't want to die. All of his spirit and the sparkle in his eye still gave me hope," she wrote in a compilation of thoughts about Joc. She's had Joc for about 13 years now and said she fell in love with him as soon as she saw him.
She said he has the sweetest disposition she's ever seen and that he's never made an attempt to bite or kick at all.
She tried soaking and medicating his leg several times each day. He had x-rays and more, but still his leg got progressively worse. It was then that she thought of Ronnie and Linda Graves, owners of Prosthetics Research Specialists, Inc. in Bushnell.
Several years ago, she had approached the couple about helping with one of her horses, but the injury and damage from barbed wire was too intense to save her mare.
When she approached Graves about Joc, he stepped right up.
The first day he looked at him, Graves said he could help. They created a cast of Joc's leg and came up with a device for Joc to wear on his right front leg.
Graves said they had to get the weight off of his hoof to make a cast and while the first device didn't work out, he made some alterations in the plan and created a new device that completely encompasses Joc's hoof, allowing him the mobility he needs to get around and graze the pasture.
Joc immediately adapted to it.
Dixon laughed when she said he just about runs her down now to get out and about, once she puts the device on him.
He's even the pasture companion to Chuck, Dixon's other horse. The two have shared the same pasture for the past 11 years.
About the same time that Graves was helping Dixon, he got a call from a colleague in Texas, who asked for his help on a case.
A single mom, raising her children, she was living from paycheck to paycheck. Suddenly, one day, her children watched in horror as the family dog was run over by a car.
The dog lost her front legs and there didn't seem to be a solution.
Graves and his wife are animal lovers and the idea of the animals suffering concerns them. Mrs. Graves is a coordinator for the county Humane Society.
The case of the dog was a donation of time and effort by Graves, his colleague and the veterinarian who did the surgery.
"It's just neat when something like that comes together," he said.
He said he plans to use his own animals to research new devices to help animals.
( Not in the article)
Graves made the pair of front legs for the dog at no charge. The colleague in Texas did his part for no charge and the Vet did the surgery and after care at no charge. The dog has returned to being a functional family pet and the mother and kids have their friend back.
All research done on the animals is done pain free and under the supervision of a veterinarian to insure no stress placed upon the animal. These devices are an external device so no surgery is done to insert or try something new.
                                 Return to Joc's Page                                                                  Return To Home Page