A leg injury can quickly spell the end of a racehorse’s career. For one racehorse in California, though, her injury offered an opportunity for innovative imaging and stem cell treatments, and ultimately a trip back to the winner’s circle. In November 2016, Irish Streetsinger, a 3-year-old female Thoroughbred, was showing some lameness while training and was brought to the UC Davis veterinary hospital for evaluation. Owner Bob McCabe was willing to do whatever it took to get Irish Streetsinger healthy again.
Six years ago, Star-Buck was near death. Emaciated and weighing only 400 pounds, he was rescued by Angela Wood and friends. Now, the 10-year-old American Quarter Horse gelding is strong enough to walk across the country with Wood to raise awareness for childhood hunger.
Nash, a 12-year-old American Quarter Horse gelding, is a roping horse in local competitions and also works for his family herding cattle. That career was in jeopardy recently after suffering a severe laceration to his lower lip that extended back to his jawline. His owners Maureen and Brian searched Nash’s stall for evidence of how the injury happened. While not certain it was the cause, the only possible culprit they could find was a rough edge on a food bowl that they hadn’t noticed before.