To hear her owner talk, Suki has always been a bit of a diva. And that hasn't changed even after the massive barn fire that burned the chestnut mare over two- thirds of her body.

Suki's feisty, stubborn spirit shined through all the ointment slathered on her tender skin during seven weeks in an equine intensive care unit. The horse stayed her spunky self despite painful skin grafts and the discomfort of daily wound care.

Her recovery over the past two years has been so remarkable that, while she cannot be ridden anymore, owner Frances Wade-Whittaker thinks Suki has found a new mission: working as a therapy animal for human burn survivors.

It's a belief shared by some veterinarians and physical therapist Marcia Levinson, co-director of a summer camp for children scarred by fire.

"I think the kids could just identify with this animal, who is very much the same as they are," Levinson said. "Suki is a living metaphor for all that the kids have gone through."

Wade-Whittaker bought Suki, an Oldenburg mare, in 2003 and for years competed with her in dressage. That all ended one summer night in 2009 when a massive barn fire broke out at the farm where Suki boarded in Oley Township, about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

The badly injured horse was found wandering in a nearby field, burns covering about two-thirds of her body and corneal ulcers temporarily blinding her. When Wade-Whittaker got the devastating news, her first question to the local veterinarian was: Does Suki need to be put down?

The doctor advised having the horse evaluated at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, where 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was treated after breaking down in the Preakness.

Suki's arrival is seared into the memory of Michelle Harris, an internal medicine resident at New Bolton. "It smelled like a fire was in the trailer," Harris recalled.

"Her whole back was black."

But Harris was hopeful. The mare was standing tall and seemed surprisingly alert; her attitude "was fairly bright," she had an appetite and didn't show any major orthopedic injuries. In short, Harris said, Suki had a will to survive.

"That's a horse that you say (to the owner), 'If you're willing to let us try to treat her, I think we can give it a shot,'" Harris said.

Suki spent seven weeks at New Bolton at a total cost of about $18,000. Harris attributed her healing to copious amounts of silver sulfadiazine, which is also used to treat human burns, and painkillers that helped maintain her appetite. Burn patients need huge amounts of calories to regenerate skin, Harris said.

Though some in the horse community have pilloried Wade-Whittaker for not euthanizing the mare, she said it seemed clear from her first visit to the equine ICU — when she called Suki's name and the mare nickered back — that the horse was a fighter.

"You could see that personality the entire time," Wade-Whittaker said. "That's how I knew I did the right thing."

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Recovery of Burned Pa. Horse Offers Hope to Humans

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7/19/2011http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=14103122&singlePage=true

To hear her owner talk, Suki has always been a bit of a diva. And that hasn't changed even after the massive barn fire that burned the chestnut mare over two- thirds of her body.

Suki's feisty, stubborn spirit shined through all the ointment slathered on her tender skin during seven weeks in an equine intensive care unit. The horse stayed her spunky self despite painful skin grafts and the discomfort of daily wound care.

Her recovery over the past two years has been so remarkable that, while she cannot be ridden anymore, owner Frances Wade-Whittaker thinks Suki has found a new mission: working as a therapy animal for human burn survivors.

It's a belief shared by some veterinarians and physical therapist Marcia Levinson, co-director of a summer camp for children scarred by fire.

"I think the kids could just identify with this animal, who is very much the same as they are," Levinson said. "Suki is a living metaphor for all that the kids have gone through."

Wade-Whittaker bought Suki, an Oldenburg mare, in 2003 and for years competed with her in dressage. That all ended one summer night in 2009 when a massive barn fire broke out at the farm where Suki boarded in Oley Township, about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

The badly injured horse was found wandering in a nearby field, burns covering about two-thirds of her body and corneal ulcers temporarily blinding her. When Wade-Whittaker got the devastating news, her first question to the local veterinarian was: Does Suki need to be put down?

The doctor advised having the horse evaluated at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, where 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was treated after breaking down in the Preakness.

Suki's arrival is seared into the memory of Michelle Harris, an internal medicine resident at New Bolton. "It smelled like a fire was in the trailer," Harris recalled.

"Her whole back was black."

But Harris was hopeful. The mare was standing tall and seemed surprisingly alert; her attitude "was fairly bright," she had an appetite and didn't show any major orthopedic injuries. In short, Harris said, Suki had a will to survive.

"That's a horse that you say (to the owner), 'If you're willing to let us try to treat her, I think we can give it a shot,'" Harris said.

Suki spent seven weeks at New Bolton at a total cost of about $18,000. Harris attributed her healing to copious amounts of silver sulfadiazine, which is also used to treat human burns, and painkillers that helped maintain her appetite. Burn patients need huge amounts of calories to regenerate skin, Harris said.

Though some in the horse community have pilloried Wade-Whittaker for not euthanizing the mare, she said it seemed clear from her first visit to the equine ICU — when she called Suki's name and the mare nickered back — that the horse was a fighter.

"You could see that personality the entire time," Wade-Whittaker said. "That's how I knew I did the right thing."

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Recovery of Burned Pa. Horse Offers Hope to Humans

Page 1 of 1Format Dynamics :: CleanPrint :: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=14103122&si...

7/19/2011http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=14103122&singlePage=true