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Glenpool’s Legacy Equine Medical & Surgical Centre helps clients from around the country get their horses back in the saddle.
When Hanna developed arthritis last year, it looked as if she might never jump again — a certain career ender for the 12-year-old bay Hanoverian mare.
Fortunately, the doctors at Legacy Equine Medical & Surgical Centre in Glenpool were able to fuse the affected joint in her right hind hoof. Using a plate and five screws, they stabilized the tender area in October and expected Hanna to recover by April.
“She’s going to do very well,” says Matt Klotz, co-owner of Legacy.
Hanna is just one of thousands of patients at Legacy, which Klotz and Wade Spradley opened in May 2007. The specialty hospital offers stem cell treatments, full-service surgical facilities, intensive care, breeding services, horse dentistry, nutritional counseling and an on-site laboratory, as well as a board-certified surgeon on staff.
“We’re changing the life of a horse almost every day — and the owners’ (lives), too,” Spradley says.
Both Klotz, from Bartlesville, and Spradley, from Cameron, grew up around horses and always knew they wanted to focus on equine care after veterinary school. They worked together for years in Sapulpa and decided to start their own practice, specializing in horses. They say their facility is one of a handful in the country, and attracts clients from surrounding states. The Oakridge Equine Hospital in Edmond is the only other similar practice in the state. Klotz and Spradley, both graduates of the Oklahoma State University School of Veterinary Medicine, work with two other staff vets, Cortney Henderson, a certified surgeon, and Crystal Christman, who specializes in dentistry.
“Oklahoma has a huge horse industry,” Spradley says. “It’s definitely a horse state.”
What really sets Legacy apart, though, is service, Spradley says. Although the doctors work on animal patients, this is a “people-type business,” he says.
“Equine clients are the most educated clients out there,” Spradley says. “They demand the best.”
The reason for that is simple, he says. The bond between horses and their owners is not just emotional, as with most pets. It’s often economic, too.
“A lot of our patients are worth more than the house I live in,” Klotz says. “They’re worth six figures.”
And, unlike house pets such as dogs and cats, horses usually have jobs. They’re jumpers, racers, breeders or show horses, Klotz says. It’s important that they keep doing their jobs.
“Clients expect the same care for their horses that humans can get,” Klotz says.
And the look of the modern facility seems only to reinforce that belief. The surgery room is well-equipped with the latest technology. A hydraulic pulley system lifts the horses from the pre-surgery area, where they undergo anesthesia, to the operating table.
An observatory upstairs allows owners to watch their horse’s surgery take place.
Country music playing throughout the hospital emits a friendly, welcoming vibe.
Several recovery stalls controlled by a remote touch-screen monitor house recuperating patients.
It’s no wonder why horses like Hanna come from around the country to get treatment at Legacy.
