When Horses Without Humans volunteers went to pick up a surrendered horse in May 2025, the rescue knew little about the animal named Shadow. The owner had fallen on hard times and was facing terminal cancer, and the few photos provided showed the horse was underweight.
“We just thought it was an emaciation case,” said Yvonne Barteau, who runs the organization from her farm in Bell, Florida. “But the ankle was the elephant in the room.”
Shadow’s left front leg, which had been conspicuously absent from any of the photos, was startlingly bowed at the ankle. It had been like that for over two years, per the former owner.
“When I saw her face in the back of the trailer, I was just like, ‘This mare is so happy to be here. She has hope in her eyes,’” Barteau said. “I called my vet, who said to euthanize her. But she’s only, like, 5 or 6 years old, and she was so hopeful and sweet. I said, ‘Not today.’ And I felt like that every day I’d go visit her.”
Second Opinions
Barteau consulted with veterinarian after veterinarian, with most agreeing that euthanasia may be the most humane route. But she was not ready to give up on Shadow, who seemed unwilling to give up herself.
She decided she would pursue the surgery at UF Large Animal Hospital in Gainesville, partly influenced by the hospital’s ability to house the horse post-surgery and set her up for a successful recovery. Horses Without Humans generally expects its rescue animals to be short-term tenants before finding their forever homes, so the additional recovery support sealed the deal, according to Barteau.
Barteau spent a few weeks collecting funds for the surgery, which was eventually scheduled for July 29, 2025.
“We have 57,000 followers, and people from all over the world were jumping in [to the fundraising] because they could see it, too. They could see it on her face, how happy she was,” Barteau said. “There wasn’t one person paying a ton of money; it was a ton of people paying a little bit of money.”
Checking in for Surgery
Shadow arrived at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine campus days before her scheduled surgery. Her surgeon, Dr. Lawrence Kadic, clinical assistant professor in UF’s large animal surgery department, had only seen radiographs and videos of the horse up to that point.
After laying eyes on the injury, he noticed the leg had worsened since the last imaging. He ordered new radiographs to evaluate the degree of injury located around Shadow’s ankle.
“The horse was diagnosed with a chronic injury to the lateral collateral ligament of the fetlock joint, causing severe instability and varus deformation, or bowing, at the level of the fetlock joint,” Dr. Kadic said. “I could see a significant amount of new bone formation and osteoarthritis on the radiographs.”
The only option for Shadow was to perform a fetlock arthrodesis of the affected joint. This is a well-established procedure that is commonly performed in injured racehorses, but Dr. Kadic said that Shadow’s injury and especially its chronicity was uncommon. The goal of the procedure was to realign the joint and fuse it in place with a single permanent plate and multiple screws.
“This procedure is a salvage procedure and does not allow horses to pursue any type of athletic performance,” Dr. Kadic explained to Barteau, “but if successful, it improves comfort and quality of life significantly.”
The biggest risks associated with this type of major orthopedic surgery are during post-operative recovery, including adding strain to her “good” front limb and surgical site infection. Luckily, Shadow passed all those hurdles and did not experience any complications.
Successful Surgery and New Potential
Shadow made it through surgery and healed in a UF stall for five weeks before returning to the rescue. There, her caretakers have been cautious in her recovery, consulting with Dr. Kadic along the way.
Now, as Shadow reaches one year since rescue and ten months since the surgery, her progress is evident. Horses Without Humans’ Facebook page frequently posts updates of her new life, with recent posts capturing her hand-walking on the rescue grounds, receiving cryotherapy treatment to her repaired leg, and even frolicking around in a small paddock. She will continue to be turned out minimally and monitored closely.
“She has just been one of the best-minded, most worthy, deserving horses that you could find,” Barteau said. “She just has wormed her way into everybody’s hearts around here because she’s so hopeful and she’s such a trier.”
Barteau says she thinks Shadow will live out her days at the rescue. “She’s never going anywhere as long as the rescue is alive and will be a bit of an ambassador for what is possible,” Barteau said. “We’re grateful that Dr. Kadic gave her a chance. I think everything went as good as any of us could have hoped for.”
