Vets work to save “stolen” Przewalski’s filly with broken leg

Initially, the veterinary team believed the filly might have injured her carpus, a complex joint in the front leg, said Dr Kristina Delaski, a veterinary medical officer at the National Zoo. Her team turned to outside specialists experienced with equine orthopedics

Radiographs showed the filly had broken the radius bone in her front right leg, the long bone below a horse’s elbow. But the veterinary staff were surprised by what else the radiograph revealed.

“She had already begun forming a bony callus, which was excellent because that is the body’s way of stabilizing the fracture,” Delaski said. “It’s also surprising because it was so fast compared to an adult animal. Her age definitely helped with that.”

“We weren’t sure how that leg was going heal. If you have an adult horse that’s really heavy-bodied and they’re taking the weight off of the leg for a long time, it affects the other legs. They’ll start to break down, especially in the front because they can’t really get off it,” Reed said. “But it worked because she was so little.”

within 24 hours and placed the new mom and foal into a separate pasture to bond. It was there the fracture occurred.

Now healed, the herd’s youngest Przewalski’s horse was ready to rejoin the rest. Keepers watched closely as the filly initially ran to her grandmother but noticed the little one returned to her mother after a few minutes.

She knows who mom is, and she might have an affinity for grandma because she did imprint on her, but it’s not the same as when she was younger,” Reed said.

With the herd’s dynamics back to normal, Reed is optimistic the filly will continue to grow with no lasting issues.

“Now you can’t even tell that she ever broke anything. She runs, she spins, she kicks. She does everything she needs to do.”