Please...

Ok...this may sound cheesy, and quite frankly I don't care one whit if it does...

Today @ the Preakness, Barbaro (the horse that won the Derby) broke his leg in 2 places. It hasn't been determined whether or not he'll recover, so if you guys & gals could keep him in your thoughts & prayers, it would mean a TON to me.

Horses are my first love, yes, even prior to snakes. To see an animal suffer to this extent just breaks my heart into a million pieces.

Please. Send Barbaro your best...he's hurting to an degree that most people can't imagine.

:(

K~

OMG, it hasn't been on the news at all. How terrible. I hope they will update us, but that doesn't sound good at all.
My mother used to work a racing stable for D Wayne Lucas, and actually owned 26 racehorses herself at one time. She installed a love for the sport and for horses very early on, and I have owned and trained a lot over the years.
Wolfy who will eb thinking good thoughts.

Thank you Wolfy...you probably have a very good understanding of how racing can affect a horse, and how a major injury can affect an animal that was born to try his heart out.

Thank you. Keep your fingers crossed for Barbaro.

K~

Oh geeez, that's so sad! I don't know much about horse racing myself, but my heart and prayers go out! I adore horses as well, and the thought of one suffering so, whether famous or not, is heart breaking.

Wow.. I don't know how I missed the Preakness..

I can never get my words out right, but it makes me sad to hear of his accident. Racing is so hard on their young bodies. At least the veterinary sciences have advanced exponentially, so he has a much better chance now than he would a few decades ago.

April...you absolutely hit THAT nail on the friggin' HEAD!!!!!!!!

As an industry, I quite frankly can't understand horse racing. It's been proven time & again that the equine skeleton needs at least 3 years to grow & fuse, yet in racing they commonly start YEARLING horses. WTF??!!??!?!?!!?!


Regardless, racing ethics aside, horses are horses...highly sensitive beings that *know* when something is wrong, regardless of how long it takes an idiot human to figure out the same problem.

Thank you for the backup, ladies. Keep the good vibes a-rollin'!

K~

i hate hate HATE to hear about horse injuries. i don't know why but it bothers me more than any other type of injury or accident. i hate the thought of those poor young horses being raced. i hope poor barbaro can recover. poor thing--this won't be easy. :(

Well they don't usually start lipizzans and other spanish horses until they're at least 5 if I remember correctly.. I saw a 23 year old andalusian doing all the (difficult) fancy footwork.. I don't see the reasoning of wearing them out when they're 2 or 3 when they can do so much into their 20s when they're started right - slowly.

Jeez, broken in two places, that's insane...poor thing. =(

My first love was horses. I remember I had a cardboad box in my room that I'd put coins in to save up for a horsey of my own.

I watched the Preakness and just...wow. Before they got him pulled up I had it called, such a pity. I'm suprised they are giving him as much of a percentage as they are considering he ran at least six or seven strides on his pastern (if you watch it's quite noticable that his hoof is not what his weight was landing on).
I frequent quite a few equine boards as well as reptile boards and nothing gets quite as heated as topics asking when a horse should be started...wow...Except maybe topics on Halter horses...those can get kinda nasty too. Flame fest guarantee. I myself have a three year old that I just put a few rides on and thinking back to her as a yearling I couldn't imagine hopping on her then.
I'll be watching for more information on Barbaro. I still remember watching the races with Go For Wand, Prairie Bayou and the race where Ruffian broke down (though that one has only been on tape since I wasn't yet born)...always sad.

The vets at a very renowned university will be trying to do an operation, possibly today. They are at this point trying to save him for breeding. In other words, save his life, but he will never be ridden again.
I started horses when their knees hardened. Some horses this happened a LOT quicker than others. Since I have seen a lot of retired racehorses living quite happily into thier 20s and more being nice jumpers and trail riders, and the like, I wouldn't call them broken down at 2 or 3 years old. They can't compete racewise anymore, but no matter how late you start them, that is going to be true. Horse racing is a matter of fractions of a second, so just a little off, and the animal is not competitive anymore.
Most thoroughbreds get so hyped before a race that they will run on completely broken legs. This in not due to people drugging them, but due to the incrediable adrenalin rush.
The horse that do activities like dressage, fancy footwork and the like do not have to be at the cutting edge of the their form physically. They have to be well conditioned and healthy. So even a horse that is no longer race-able, will do wonderfully well at dressage for many years.
I dislike the steeplechases that injure so many animals, and a lot of those animal are started much later than the thoroughbreds.
Plus a side note, a yearling thoroughbred is not one year old. They breed the animals so that they get as much of the year before the first birthday as possible, but ALL thoroughbred are counted as being born Jan 1. Easier on the officials that way.
Wolfy : Fount of Useless Information.

It was heart breaking to watch. Barbaro is such a beautiful animal, and I hope he can make a recovery from that break.

How very tragic....thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention Kara and it's not cheesy in my mind to send good thoughts winging to this horse who tried with his whole heart to do what his instincts and his humans wanted of him. I pray the operation is successful so that he can stand at stud and live out his life still worth something to his owners (it's unfortunately about money but hopefully it's still about the love of horses too).

I remember watching a race many years ago. At this point I can't remember the race or the horse involved but it snapped it's leg just above the hoof. They could not get the horse to pull up. It just wouldn't stop running and I remember watching the TV - just crying and feeling sick to my stomach. I hate to see such beautiful, proud animals so badly injured.

I hope the news is good for Barbaro.

A lot of good points, Wolfy. I have a 19 year old thoroughbred that still thinks he's a race horse..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

The horse that do activities like dressage, fancy footwork and the like do not have to be at the cutting edge of the their form physically. They have to be well conditioned and healthy.

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I beg to differ a bit here.. if the horse is performing a capriole as 'fancy footwork'. ;)

It's also comparing apples to oranges. "Cutting edge" for a top-level dressage horse differs greatly from "cutting edge" for a racehorse, but still goes way beyond simply being healthy and well conditioned. Healthy & well conditioned should be the bare minimum for any horse involved in any sort of training, whether for competition or otherwise.

K~

Well Wolfy if you consider the the knees are one of the first areas to close then it's not that much different. The back fuses at 5-6 years of age and that's what we 'sit' on. The knees usually close somewhere in their second year. Too early IMO. But to each their own.
The January first birthday isn't just for TBs sadly. It's amazing to go through the paper and see all the long yearlings with "started under saddle doing great". This doesn't just affect the horse phsyically it's also very hard on them mentally.

It sure was a nasty one :( My wife and I where watching. My wife trains horses and manages a riding school barn so she's all into that stuff. She said she read online today that it WAS a career ending injury :(

I would have been dumbfounded if they said he ever had a chance of being raced again. I'll be suprised enough if they manage to save him.

Its a sad story but hopefully one that will have a happy ending. Its always sad to see an animal hurt or suffering.

From Bloodhorse:

Barbaro Surgery Complete; Standing in Intensive Care Unit
Date Posted: 5/21/2006 8:57:21 PM
Last Updated: 5/21/2006 9:24:53 PM

Surgeons reported that Barbaro's seven-plus-hour surgery has ended, and the classic winner who was severely injured in Saturday's Preakness Stakes (gr. I) is in the intensive care unit at the New Bolton Center and standing.

Dr. Dean Richardson, who led the surgical team, said the son of Dynaformer was in surgery for about seven hours. He said one reason the procedure took so long was the amount of time to prepare the colt for surgery and the recovery time to allow the anesthesia to wear off.

"It was long recovery because he was under anesthesia for so long. The surgery was very difficult," said Richardson, noting that the surgery is only the first step toward Barbaro being able to survive his injuries. "The severity of the fracture was very severe. The long pastern bone was in 20-plus pieces. It was not a simple fracture. The skin did not break. He is very very badly bruised. We were able to put the appropriate implants in the leg."

Richardson also said a procedure to fusion the fetlock joint – the ankle – was successful.

"He got up from anesthesia without any injuries," Richardson said.

He said horses with injuries such as Barbaro's are susceptible to other problems, including infection and laminitis.

"These are all major concerns we have. At this moment he is very comfortable in his leg. Things right now are good."

Richardson said one of his major concerns, that the blood flow in the areas of the injury had been cut off, quickly dismissed when the doctors determined "he had good pulse in his feet. When we did the procedure he had good blood supply throughout."

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He's not out of the woods by a long shot...keep "Team Barbaro" in your thoughts & prayers!

K~

OMG!! 20 plus pieces?!?! That poor baby. :(

Thanks for the update. I was wondering how that surgery went. I've definitely still got my fingers crossed for him. Do you know how long until they can make a definite assertion that he will be ok?

Christie, it'll be months before they know 100%...so many things can go wrong with a case like this - colic, founder, infections, who knows.

Ugh!

K~

That's what I was afraid of. :oops: Would you please keep us updated?

KLG ........ I would like you to know that my wife and I will be praying for you two. With all of our combined faiths he will definitely find his way.

From Danny & Monique

I thought I'd update this thread. We saw Barbaro on the news last night with his vet. He's had a horrible time of it with the original bad break in his right rear leg during the race and subsequent serious issues with this left rear hoof and nothing is for certain yet but we saw him walking! He did lift the damaged leg occasionally but he did seem able to bear weight on it when walking. He even got going enough that his vet and the interviewer were moving along pretty snappy to keep up with his natural fast walking gait. It was wonderful to see him! Sure he looks rough, you can see he's been very ill but that horse is alive, walking, alert to his handlers - heck he was even grazing while the vet and the TV interviewer talked. Here's a link I found updating his condition (recent interview with his primary vet apparently).

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/h...orts-headlines

Please keep this valiant animal still in your thoughts folks.

Thats great news:D .I was watching that race on tv and i thought o no another horse lost:( .Its very weird of an animal built like a horse is to have very easily broken leg bones:confused: .

Thanks for the update Jo. I was wondering how he was progressing. Sounds very hopeful! :sweeet:

Yes, thx Jo. I haven't been able to keep up, and the last articles I had time to read, his laminitis was soooooo bad, even AFTER removing the necrotic tissue and horn, they didn't hold much hope for him. I'm glad to hear that he's doing well enough they haven't had to PHD.



R

That poor guy; I just hope that he is not suffering that much, and wasn't in that much pain (within reason; obviously it was painful for him, but hopefully the people involved relieved the pain, etc.)
I would guess that years ago, a horse in his predicament would have simply been put down. But I just hope that all in all, it is worth it to the horse to be alive and well; not just having a life of surgeries, pain and being restrained in a stall. I hope for his sake he can be out there trotting in a pasture or, better yet, be "retired" to the life of a more pampered stud :)

Many lengthy updates here. He's been resting comfortably & was even able to be led outside for grazing recently. Baby steps, but progress nonetheless! :)

That poor guy. I know it's really painful for him, as he has to put wight on his poor foot. MY mom had two horses when I was younger. Magnificent animals.

In most cases a horse with an injured leg is usually put down.I'm no saying that this will happen to your horse,but a broken leg on a horse will heal slow,and they can't keep the weight off of it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by python kid

In most cases a horse with an injured leg is usually put down.I'm no saying that this will happen to your horse,but a broken leg on a horse will heal slow,and they can't keep the weight off of it.

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Not my horse. Barbaro is the renowned Kentucky Derby winner who broke his leg in the opening stretch of the Preakness this year.

Also, seeing as how the majority of my life has been spent working with horses, I'm pretty familiar with what a broken leg *may* entail, depending on circumstance. ;)

K~

Yes, thanks for the update.... :( That makes my tummy turn. I saw (heard) a QH break it's leg at an event, worst thing ever. ever.... They spend almost all their lives on their feet, even sleeping while standing... So to have that kind of weight on a bad break... I can't think of anything worse for a horse to recover from... *heavy sigh*I'm all about the good vibes too!!! So, I just KNOW he'll be fine! :grouphug: