Monday Morning Ed-U-Upper...
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Meet Molly...

Molly is a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Katrina hit southern Louisiana.

She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help.

Then, surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight, and didn't overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee. A temporary artificial limb was then built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.

Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet. And she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious that she understood she was in trouble.

Molly's story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana. The little pony gained weight, her mane felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca, Molly's regular vet, reports. She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. "Sometimes she wants you to take it off too." And, at times, Molly gets away from Barca. "It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a three-legged horse," she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay, the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope.

Wherever Molly went, she shows people her pluck.
She inspires people.
And she has a good time doing it.

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"Nothing is so embarrassing as watching someone do something that you said couldn't be done."

.....................................Sam Ewing

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Molly the Pony: A True Story by Pam Kaster
(2008, LA State Univ. Press, 15.95/hardback)
[Check/Credit Card Price...Less 21% = 12.60]

The heart-warming, true story of a pony who endures and survives the wrath of Hurricane Katrina and then waits to be rescued from her south Louisiana barn. When she is and begins a new life on a farm, her life is suddenly threatened again when a dog attacks her. She undergoes a rare surgery for horses: amputation of her front leg. Now fitted with a prosthetic limb, Molly relearns how to walk and embarks again on a new mission in life: making new people friends. This plucky pony's story of survival and friendship will enter the hearts of your students. And, you! Color. Grades PreK-adult. [10” x 10”...30 pages]
http://www.any-book-in-print.com/spec_probs/limb_loss_spec.htm

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Here's two more pictures of Molly:

This is Molly's most recent prosthesis.

The bottom photo shows the ground surface that she stands on, which a smiley face has embossed in it. Wherever Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind!

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