Ali16
Well-Known Member
I am very, very pleased to announce that Loucarino (Lukka) has found his way to a new forever home & he is happily munching on his hay. I am not going to name the new owner, if they would like to come forward of their own accord, thats fine but if not, well leave them in peace 
So, to finish the story off, I have a few clarifications, apologies and thank yous:
Clarifications:
Lukka was bought by his old owners a couple of years ago as a high level schoolmaster and kept in Germany. Sadly during the time that he was on livery there he sustained terrible cuts to both his forelegs. These cuts were not treated properly and infection spread to his off fore knee joint. He was treated (both knee joints flushed) by one of the best vets in the world and declared sound & ready to return to work about a year after the operation.
In October 2012, after a lot of money and time had been spent on getting Lukka sound and healthy again, the owner decided to bring him to our yard in the UK, to join all his other horses. On the way over Lukka sustained a small cut to his off fore leg and his old injury flared up again. The vet in Germany who had treated him previously implied to the owner that it was unlikely that Lukka would recover a second time, and to put him to sleep. During the next few days I spent hours & hours with him, injecting him, cold hosing, walking, massaging... whatever I could do to get the leg down and make his last few days on this earth more comfortable. The leg did go down ad he came sound, but sadly by this point the owner had decided that despite the UK vets saying that he could recover enough to do lower level work with correct management, the horse was not going to do what they bought him for any longer.
Now, many people would say that at this point, I should have given in and allowed the vet to come and put Lukka to sleep. But I say, until you have had to look at an animal that is so full of life, healthy & happy and think: Today is going to be your last day in this world and I dont feel like Ive tried everything in my power to prevent that happening I dont think you can comment. If you have, you are a stronger/harder person than me. I am soft. So sue me. If he had clearly been in pain, I would not have thought twice about having him put to sleep. But he was so exuberant and full of vitality that we simply couldnt give up that easily. My husband and I convinced the owners to give us a chance to find him a new home they VERY KINDLY agreed. For those who inferred that I re-homed this horse myself without the blessing of the former owner, his name and signatures are on the sale contract and receipt. Nothing untoward there.
I went about urgently finding him a new home and spread the word the fastest way I knew how... social networking. I asked for a good home. I did basic background checks, like Google, but I am not an internet super-sleuth apparently. I am also a very trusting person this is a hard lesson for me to learn, but I think I have now learnt not always to trust... A very sad lesson I think, but I guess thats life.
I am not going any further in this part of the tale, that is now history.
Apologies:
First and foremost, I am going to go and apologise to Lukka on Monday I hope. He was the poor thing caught up in all of this, though I think he was being so well looked after that he didnt notice
Which brings me onto my next apology To Katy at Newfield Livery. Katy has acted most admirably throughout this whole saga and taken wonderful care of Lukka. I am truly sorry that you were dragged into all this. You are good, honest people and I will continue to spread the word about how lovely you all are
My final apology goes to Legyield I am very sorry that you were the subject of a witch hunt. I really never meant for it to go that way. I have already sent you a text today to thank you for doing the right thing by Lukka it really is appreciated. It is a hard way to learn that an animal of this calibre does not slip under the radar unnoticed and the horse world is a scarily small place. Sorry, and thank you again.
Thank yous:
Im not going to name and shame all the people that helped in various different ways - if you want to come forward then thats fine, but just so you know... you are all AMAZING and I am touched by the kindness of comparative strangers
My next Thank You goes to Newfield Livery for being so wonderful and taking such great care of Lukka. Youre fabulous
Thank you to Legyield for agreeing to the sale that now means that Lukka is safely in a forever home who are fully aware of his history. Thank you SO much. Again.
And my final MASSIVE thank you goes to his new owner for acting so quickly and for giving him a home forever and ever, amen. Amazing. I will continue to stay in touch, as I had previously agreed to do with Legyield while she owned him. What you have achieved today is incredible.
So, from me, on the subject of Lukka, that is all. I am inviting NO further public debate on this topic, if you want to discuss anything more, please feel free to PM me and I will do my best to answer.
So, to finish the story off, I have a few clarifications, apologies and thank yous:
Clarifications:
Lukka was bought by his old owners a couple of years ago as a high level schoolmaster and kept in Germany. Sadly during the time that he was on livery there he sustained terrible cuts to both his forelegs. These cuts were not treated properly and infection spread to his off fore knee joint. He was treated (both knee joints flushed) by one of the best vets in the world and declared sound & ready to return to work about a year after the operation.
In October 2012, after a lot of money and time had been spent on getting Lukka sound and healthy again, the owner decided to bring him to our yard in the UK, to join all his other horses. On the way over Lukka sustained a small cut to his off fore leg and his old injury flared up again. The vet in Germany who had treated him previously implied to the owner that it was unlikely that Lukka would recover a second time, and to put him to sleep. During the next few days I spent hours & hours with him, injecting him, cold hosing, walking, massaging... whatever I could do to get the leg down and make his last few days on this earth more comfortable. The leg did go down ad he came sound, but sadly by this point the owner had decided that despite the UK vets saying that he could recover enough to do lower level work with correct management, the horse was not going to do what they bought him for any longer.
Now, many people would say that at this point, I should have given in and allowed the vet to come and put Lukka to sleep. But I say, until you have had to look at an animal that is so full of life, healthy & happy and think: Today is going to be your last day in this world and I dont feel like Ive tried everything in my power to prevent that happening I dont think you can comment. If you have, you are a stronger/harder person than me. I am soft. So sue me. If he had clearly been in pain, I would not have thought twice about having him put to sleep. But he was so exuberant and full of vitality that we simply couldnt give up that easily. My husband and I convinced the owners to give us a chance to find him a new home they VERY KINDLY agreed. For those who inferred that I re-homed this horse myself without the blessing of the former owner, his name and signatures are on the sale contract and receipt. Nothing untoward there.
I went about urgently finding him a new home and spread the word the fastest way I knew how... social networking. I asked for a good home. I did basic background checks, like Google, but I am not an internet super-sleuth apparently. I am also a very trusting person this is a hard lesson for me to learn, but I think I have now learnt not always to trust... A very sad lesson I think, but I guess thats life.
I am not going any further in this part of the tale, that is now history.
Apologies:
First and foremost, I am going to go and apologise to Lukka on Monday I hope. He was the poor thing caught up in all of this, though I think he was being so well looked after that he didnt notice
Which brings me onto my next apology To Katy at Newfield Livery. Katy has acted most admirably throughout this whole saga and taken wonderful care of Lukka. I am truly sorry that you were dragged into all this. You are good, honest people and I will continue to spread the word about how lovely you all are
My final apology goes to Legyield I am very sorry that you were the subject of a witch hunt. I really never meant for it to go that way. I have already sent you a text today to thank you for doing the right thing by Lukka it really is appreciated. It is a hard way to learn that an animal of this calibre does not slip under the radar unnoticed and the horse world is a scarily small place. Sorry, and thank you again.
Thank yous:
Im not going to name and shame all the people that helped in various different ways - if you want to come forward then thats fine, but just so you know... you are all AMAZING and I am touched by the kindness of comparative strangers
My next Thank You goes to Newfield Livery for being so wonderful and taking such great care of Lukka. Youre fabulous
Thank you to Legyield for agreeing to the sale that now means that Lukka is safely in a forever home who are fully aware of his history. Thank you SO much. Again.
And my final MASSIVE thank you goes to his new owner for acting so quickly and for giving him a home forever and ever, amen. Amazing. I will continue to stay in touch, as I had previously agreed to do with Legyield while she owned him. What you have achieved today is incredible.
So, from me, on the subject of Lukka, that is all. I am inviting NO further public debate on this topic, if you want to discuss anything more, please feel free to PM me and I will do my best to answer.
