FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES OCTOBER 2012 25
Suki, two weeks after the fre, at the New
Bolton Center. “As bad as this looks,
Suki demanded treats as soon as she
saw me!” Fran said.
Photo by Fran Wade-Whittaker
July 2009, two weeks after the fre,
Suki eating in her stall at the New
Bolton Center. “Ultimately all of that
charred skin fell off, exposing the pink
healthy skin beneath. The bandage
on her right front leg was due to a
laceration suffered when Suki was
running from the farm,” Fran said.
Photo by Fran Wade-Whittaker
Suki, taken in early spring 2012
Photo by Jennifer Curry Bandura
Fran arrived at New Bolton the next morning, anxious about
what she would see. “She just kind of looked ghostly. Her face
had absolutely no hair on it, and her eyes were swollen shut. I
think I was kind of in shock,” Fran remembers. Suki gave her
owner hope, however, because even though she couldn’t see
Fran, when Fran called out her name Suki replied with a nicker
even through her pain and confusion. She also accepted food
from Fran, which was a promising sign because it is typically very
diffcult to maintain weight on burn victims due to the amount of
calories needed to heal the burns. Suki’s sheer will to live was
evident from the beginning. “Sometimes stubbornness is what it
takes to survive,” Fran states, the pride she feels for her horse
emanating from her voice.
After two years of intensive care, Suki was almost completely
healed except for a section of her back that wasn’t fully improving.
“The tissue in this location remained red, raw, ulcerated and would
frequently bleed,” said Dr. Mike Fugaro of Centenary College. Dr.
Fugaro and Fran agreed that a skin graft on Suki’s back would
be the best way to reach full recovery and in March of 2011, Dr.
Fugaro performed the skin graft.
Suki currently still needs to wear protective bandages on her
back for rolling and her skin has to be exfoliated and moisturized
every day. Otherwise, she has healed since the skin graft. Some
think it is unlikely that Fran will ever be able to ride her horse
again, but Dr. Fugaro points out, “Suki has made liars out of many
people, including me, in the past.” Hopefully Suki will be able to
join Fran in their much-loved sport of dressage again someday,
but for now Suki is spending her time lungeing, grazing in turnout
and visiting with human burn victims who fnd inspiration in her
story.
To Fran, the therapy that Suki can give other burn victims is the
good that comes out of this tragedy. “That’s the silver lining for
me. People really respond to her and what she’s been through,”
Fran said, adding that although she and Suki may never compete
in fourth level dressage again, the remarkable bond the two share
has only grown stronger through their struggles. “I have learned to
look at life a little differently, because everything can change in an
instant. It’s important not to take life for granted. Suki has taught
me to have courage, even when it seems you are at your darkest
moment.”
About the writer: April Leonard spent her summer working as an intern for
Sidelines Magazine. She is a senior at Cazenovia College in Cazenovia, New York,
working toward a degree in Equine Business Management.