Horse owner speaks up after ‘the kindness of strangers saved my best friend’

The owner of a former racehorse who faced being put down after he degloved his leg has thanked the kindness of strangers for saving his “best friend”.

Daniel Petho, an Army reservist and an NHS assistant clinical psychologist, thought he would lose his beloved Shamadaan, who suffered horrific injuries when he got stuck in a fence. He could not afford the cost of the surgery needed to save him, so he set up a fundraising page hoping for something towards it – and people donated thousands.

Daniel told H&H “Sham” came through the surgery well and it is hoped he will make a full recovery.

“What happened destroyed me – I thought I was going to lose my best friend,” he said.”But people from round the word have donated. One could only afford £2, but gave it, bless them, some have donated £100. It’s been overwhelming; that people would give their hard-earned cash to save an animal they’ve never met.”

Daniel was away when Sham, who had recently recovered from a previous injury to come second at the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) National Championships (23-26 August), ran into the fence.

Warning, very graphic image

“Had it been the side of his leg he would probably have had to be put down then and there,” he said. “This was more damage to muscle rather than tendons or ligaments, but it was cut down to the bone and his whole leg was open.

“The vet said she couldn’t staple it so we had two options: go for surgery or we’d have to put him to sleep. She didn’t recommend that as he’s only five and she thought he’d make a full recovery but she said it would be a £1,000 deposit and I thought ‘How am I going to get that?’”

Daniel scraped the deposit together, and his GoFundMe page has now raised £335 over his £3,000 target for the full treatment. He said any extra money will be donated to RoR to help other former racehorses.

“It just took off, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “It’s so heart-warming how people have saved an ex-racehorse they’ve never met, and I just want to say thank you. For believing in our story, believing in Sham and saving him.

“You’ve saved his life and you’ve saved my best friend, and it’s restored my faith in humanity.”

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