was abandoned by her owners when Hurricane
 
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, but LSU
 
was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case.
 
You know how that goes.

But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he
 
changed his mind.  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,
 
and a temporary artificial limb was built.  Molly
 
walked out of the clinic and her story really begins
 
there.

'This was the right horse and the right owner,'
 
Moore insists.  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 she understood that she was
 
in trouble.  The other important factor, according
 
to Moore , is having a truly committed and compliant
 
owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care
 
required over the lifetime of the horse.

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

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life,
 
Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports.
 

And she asks for it.  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 sometimes, 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, and rehabilitation
 
centers.  Anywhere she thought that people needed
 
hope.  Wherever Molly went, she showed people her
 
pl uck.  She inspired people, and she had a good time
 
doing it.

'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to
 
play in life,? Moore said.  'She survived the hurricane,
 
she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving
 
hope to others.'
 

Barca concluded, 'She's not back to normal, but she's
 
going to be better.  To me, she could be a symbol
 
for New Orleans itself.'