Preakness - Barbaro - OMG!!!

[wvjules]

Holy cow, did anyone see this picture?

 

[Holly]

So sad.

I'm not going to get into a debate on the pros/ cons of horseracing, but the type of injury like the one Barbero suffered is not uncommon. This happens to thousands of horses and if they are not euthanized outright they are sent to slaughter. I have rescued and rehabbed thoroughbreds for years, and there is an ugly side to this sport most people don't see.

 

[frndofpooh]

So sad.

I'm not going to get into a debate on the pros/ cons of horseracing, but the type of injury like the one Barbero suffered is not uncommon. This happens to thousands of horses and if they are not euthanized outright they are sent to slaughter. I have rescued and rehabbed thoroughbreds for years, and there is an ugly side to this sport most people don't see.

Agreed. Most horses do enjoy racing, it's true. The problem is that many horses' bones are not knit properly at age 2 or 3, and they cannot take the repetitive stress required for high level racing. This is not an uncommon injury for racehorses, I am sorry to say. If at all possible, Barbaro will not be euthanized because he can go to stud and his owners can recoup losses from him by virtue of his Derby win. So glad to see he is at New Bolton - that is the best surgery center anywhere, especially for bone injuries. I sent a horse there for a broken leg several years ago and they did a phenomenal job with it! for Barbaro and the Matzes.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

He's out of surgery, but not much else is known right now.

http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_141103513.html

Barbaro Comes Out Of Surgery Standing

(AP) KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro has come out of surgery after six hours and was standing in an intensive care unit.

......


Sounds good so far but a long way to go. Continue those thoughts and prayers. More will probably be available at 11.

 

[crazymomof4]

I was so happy to read this part:

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro emerged from seven hours of surgery Sunday to repair life-threatening injuries and "practically jogged back to the stall," said Dr. Dean Richardson, who performed the procedure



Can't wait to hear the report on the 11pm news!

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro emerged from seven hours of surgery Sunday to repair life-threatening injuries and "practically jogged back to the stall," said Dr. Dean Richardson, who performed the procedure

This isn't necessarily a good thing. He is very spirited and is going to be difficult to keep quiet during his rehab. This is still a very dangerous time for him. It's going to be weeks before we know if he is going to survive.

 

[crazymomof4]

This isn't necessarily a good thing. He is very spirited and is going to be difficult to keep quiet during his rehab. This is still a very dangerous time for him. It's going to be weeks before we know if he is going to survive.

I understand what you're saying. I just saw the surgeon and trainer in a press conference on local TV. They did mention that Barbaro's chances still lay in the 50-50 range. Far from out of the woods. But when the surgeon spoke the words, "he practically jogged back to the stall" and added "he was pulling us" he had a smile on his face. Then Matz said that Barbaro "ate some hay a soon as he got to the stall." He said he was amazed at how much better Barbaro seemed than when he saw him before surgery. He was smiling too!

They said they are "cautiously optimistic".

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

I think Matz is pleased with the surgery and the horse's recovery from anesthesia, but as a veterinarian myself, I know that Barbaro has a long, long way to go before anyone is going to feel that he's safe.

 

[Laura]

So sad.

I'm not going to get into a debate on the pros/ cons of horseracing, but the type of injury like the one Barbero suffered is not uncommon. This happens to thousands of horses and if they are not euthanized outright they are sent to slaughter. I have rescued and rehabbed thoroughbreds for years, and there is an ugly side to this sport most people don't see.

It is really sad. Horse racing is a beautiful sport. But most people just watch the big three races every year and don't realize the dangers to the horses. So many have to be "discarded" by their owners in some way, for some reason.

I'm glad to know you're out there helping them.

Pixie dust for Barbaro; may he beat the odds.

 

[Banshee]

Another thing he has on his side is his affable almost goofy personality. He is a generally easy going horse off the track. Our trainer saw him down in Fl. and commented on what a big mush ball he was nuzzling his humans and his barn mate. But on the track all business he went out and did his job and did it well, but back at the shedrow after walking out and his bath and his legs rubbed and wrapped he was in his stall flipping his hay net around with his nose so it would swing up and land on top of his head! He said he would look around too to make sure you were watching his antics. I have never seen him in person I hope and pray that maybe I will get to see him next breeding season at the breeding farm where ever they choose to stand him.Also the Dynaformer bloodline seems to produce mild mannered horses.

 

[Banshee]

At this moment "he is extremely comfortable in the leg," said Dr. Dean Richardson, who stressed before the marathon procedure that he's never worked on so many catastrophic injuries to one horse.


Barbaro sustained "life-threatening injuries" Saturday when he broke bones above and below his right rear ankle at the start of the Preakness Stakes. His surgery began around 1PM Sunday at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center for Large Animals.


Although the operation was successful, Richardson warned that Barbaro was far from home free. He said it was still "a coin toss" that the strapping 3-year-old colt would be able to survive what had been termed catastrophic injuries.


"I feel much more comfortable now," trainer Michael Matz said afterward. "I feel at least he has a chance."


Unbeaten and a serious contender for the Triple Crown, Barbaro broke down Saturday only a few hundred yards into the 1 3/16-mile Preakness. The record crowd of 118,402 watched in shock as Barbaro veered sideways, his right leg flaring out grotesquely. Jockey Edgar Prado pulled the powerful colt to a halt, jumped off and awaited medical assistance.


Barbaro sustained a broken cannon bone above the ankle, a broken sesamoid bone behind the ankle and a broken long pastern bone below the ankle. The fetlock joint - the ankle - was dislocated.


Richardson said the pastern bone was shattered in "20-plus pieces."


The bones were put in place to fuse the joint by inserting a plate and 23 screws to repair damage so severe that most horses would not be able to survive it.

When he came out of surgery, Barbaro was lifted by sling and placed on a raft in a pool so he could calmly awake from the anesthetic. When he went back to his stall, he was wearing a cast from just below the hock to the hoof.


"He's a real genuine athlete, there's no doubt about it," Richardson said. "Even the way he woke up from anesthesia, he was very much the athlete waking up from general anesthesia."


Matz, who attended the briefing with Richardson, looked fatigued, but relieved.


"From the last time I saw him to now was a big relief," Matz said. "They did an excellent job. It's just an amazing thing to see him walk in like that."


Richardson again stressed that surgery was just the first step on a long road to recovery.


"Getting the horse up is a big step, but it is not the last step by any means," he said. "Horses with this type of injury are very, very susceptible to lots of other problems, including infection at the site."


Horses are often euthanized after serious leg injuries because circulation problems and deadly disease can arise if they are unable to distribute weight on all fours.


Richardson said he expects Barbaro to remain at the center for several weeks, but "it wouldn't surprise me if he's here much longer than that."


Tucked away on a sprawling, lush 650-acre campus in Chester County, the New Bolton Center is widely considered the top hospital for horses in the mid-Atlantic region. The center is renowned for its specialized care, especially on animals needing complicated surgery on bone injuries.


At the front gate early Sunday, well-wishers already had tacked up signs: "Thank you, Barbaro," "Believe in Barbaro" and "We Love you Barbaro."


The breaks occurred as a result of an "athletic injury," said Corinne Sweeney, a veterinarian and the hospital's executive director.


"It's an injury associated with the rigors of high performance," she said. "They were designed as athletes and they are elite athletes, thus they incur injuries associated with performance. The frame sometimes plays a role, absolutely."


Barbara Dallap, a clinician at the center, was present when Barbaro arrived at the center Saturday night.


"When we unloaded him, he was placed in intensive care and we stabilized him overnight," Dallap said. "He was very brave and well behaved under the situation and was comfortable overnight."


Barbaro's injury came a year after Afleet Alex's brush with catastrophe at the Preakness. Turning for home, the horse was bumped by another and nearly knocked to his knees before gathering himself and going on to win.

 

[tmt martins]

Db works at the track (on-air switcher for Magna ) He showed me some real cute footage he shot during the week of Barbaro rolling around in his stall trying to scratch his back.He said that it was one smart horse and that what most likely saved it's life .

I've seen many horses put down at the track over my younger years when all they did was bring out a curtian and Inject it right there.

This is a shame and these horses are primped and pampered but it's still all about the money in the end.If Stud fees weren't an option the horse would have most likely been put down.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

[/IMG]

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Images of Barbaro...first in the sling, then of the "after" x-rays...

In this photo provided by the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Dean Richardson controls Barbaro as the horse is transported from the pool following surgery at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center Sunday, May 21, 2006, in Kennett Square, Pa. (AP Photo/University of Pennsylvania, Sabina Louise Pierce)

Handout image of radiograph (side view) of Kentucky Derby champion Barbaro, made following a surgery at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center on May 21, 2006. (University of Pennsylvania/Handout/Reuters)

 

[Quinn222]

Seeing him on his feet eating brought tears to my eyes. I know it's still very dangerous but I'm praying for him.

 

[ophie]

Latest AP story says his odds of survival are 50-50. link (updated 1:30am)

 

[CheshireVal]

It's sad to see that picture of him eating and looking happy, only to know that he's still in such danger.

Here's an interesting editorial I read on ESPN.com about what can be done to try to stop some of these injuries:

BALTIMORE -- On the morning after the disaster at Pimlico, thoroughbred racing did what thoroughbred racing does best.

It shrugged and sounded helpless.

"It's human nature after something like this to try to point the finger somewhere, at someone, and say, 'That's the cause, that's the reason,' " said Joe DeFrancis, chief executive officer of the Maryland Jockey Club. "As sad as it is, accidents like this are part of the game."

The accident he referred to, of course, was heavy favorite Barbaro's horrific breakdown shortly after the start of the 131st Preakness Stakes on Saturday. The colt underwent seven hours of surgery on his broken right hind leg Sunday and was standing in an intensive care unit. Dr. Dean Richardson, who performed the surgery, said Barbaro has a "50-50" chance of survival because of the risk of infection.

DeFrancis is right about one thing: The stress huge and powerful race horses place on their thin lower legs is, in and of itself, a threat to their safety. But here's the problem with shrugging off tragedy and trotting out the "it's part of the game" line: It doesn't do anything to help fix the problem.

And if there is one thing horse racing has proven completely inept at, it's fixing its own problems. This is the ultimate can't-do sport: bereft of a national governing body and generally lacking in leadership, cohesiveness, vision, adaptability or a sound plan for connecting to the masses.
While racing execs are shrugging off Barbaro's breakdown, horrified casual fans are tuning out. Those who follow the sport three Saturdays a year are quite likely to follow it zero Saturdays from now on after watching Barbaro's grisly injury. If it's simply part of the game, hey, the viewing public can simply find another game to watch -- one in which potential death and dismemberment are not common side effects.

"I'm afraid you do [lose fans after an accident like Barbaro's]," DeFrancis acknowledged. "It's something I've shaken my head at and search[ed] for a solution to for 20 years. I wish there was a magic pill to give to all those people who felt so bad and make them feel better, but there isn't."
DeFrancis drew an analogy to auto racing, saying that the potential for tragedy is there as well. But here's where that analogy falls short: When Dale Earnhardt was killed at Daytona in 2001, NASCAR didn't just shrug. It reacted, changed its safety regulations -- and became a safer sport. Lethal crashes are down since then.

That's the difference between a smart, assertive sport and an inert sport. Doing nothing only guarantees that the same injuries will keep happening.
The biggest problem horse racing has is a chronic inability to keep its star performers around long enough for the public to latch on to them. And the biggest reason is leg injuries. They happen far too often.

Before Barbaro became the star of his generation, the hot name was Stevie Wonderboy, winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile as a 2-year-old and the Derby favorite entering the new year. He was injured while training in February, terminating his Triple Crown run.

That happens every single year, without fail. At least one -- and usually several -- of the top 3-year-olds fall by the wayside on the trail to the Derby because of injury.

For a diminished sport that needs every fan it can get, shrugging at all the broken bones and bowed tendons is not an ideal response.

There is something racing can do to address the problem: It can seriously and aggressively study widespread installation of Polytrack, the synthetic racing surface that gained popularity in Europe, is establishing a beachhead in North America -- and has a reputation for being safer than dirt. Polytrack is formed from polypropeylene fibers, recycled rubber and silica sand covered in a wax coating.

Polytrack is in place at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., and on the training track at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. This summer it will be installed as the primary racing surface at Keeneland and at Woodbine in Toronto. In February, the California Horse Racing Board voted unanimously to mandate that all the state's thoroughbred tracks install Polytrack by the end of 2007. According to Blood-horse, an industry magazine, there have been more than 240 fatalities of California horses at tracks between 2003 and 2005.

The data is far from complete on Polytrack, but early indications are that breakdowns are dramatically reduced on that surface. According to Turfway, there were three catastrophic breakdowns during the first meet on Polytrack. The year before Polytrack was installed there were 24.

"When the Keeneland boys came and talked to me about that [installing Polytrack], I was a little concerned," said Nick Zito, one of the nation's leading trainers and a winner of multiple Triple Crown races. "I was a little reluctant ... But when they talked to me about safety, they stopped me right in my tracks. That was the end of the discussion.

"This sport needs to catch a break. Look, you don't want to see every track go to Polytrack -- I can't see the Kentucky Derby run on Polytrack, can you? -- but you want to keep the animals safe."

DeFrancis pointed out that Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns several tracks in North America, including Pimlico, has spent "tens of millions of dollars" on its racing surfaces. He said the right things about Polytrack, but didn't sound like a believer.

"We certainly value any technological innovation that can make the sport safer," he said. "I think the jury is still out on whether Polytrack does that."
There are other reservations about Polytrack. Will it provide a uniformly fair and consistent racing surface? Will its slightly bouncy nature lead to a different kind of injury?

But the biggest fear in some corners is that it will rewrite the record books and render several landmark times meaningless. Kentuckians, for instance, would have a collective conniption fit if Secretariat's 1-minute, 59 2/5-second Kentucky Derby record were ever broken by some horse racing on a souped-up, rubberized surface.

But if anything, the Turfway races have yielded slower times, not faster, than those on dirt. So the hallowed marks could remain -- and if they need to add a new section to the record books for the Polytrack Era, is that such a fundamental tragedy?

It certainly would be far less tragic than what happened to Barbaro on Saturday in the Preakness.

 

[Jennasis]

Here's hoping that Barbaro ccan stay nice a quiet for his recovery period. In my years as a barn manager and horse owner I have faced MANY similar situations (where a recovering horse's life depended enyirely on how willing the animal is to just stay still and quiet). Matz is a terrific horseman and trainer and will do all he can to save Barbaro I'm sure. Poor Matz...he's been through so much! Did you guys know he was a former Olympic Grand Prix rider AND a survivor of that MASSIVE plane crash in I believe 1989 in OK City (i think it was), where he saved several other passengers (most perished) including a fellow US Equestrian team member (whom he later married). I remember seeing footage back then of the plane crashing onto the runway in a HUGE fireball and flipping end over end before skidding to a halt.

The poor guy. Michael Matz has been one of my favorite USET riders since I was a kid.

Edgar Prado, probably saved Barbaro's life by pulling him up. The horse would've run until it destroyed his leg completely and collapsed. BTW, the horse was likely NOT in agony because of the adrenalin pumping through him. I was watching the hrose carefully and he didn't seem to be laboring with his breathing or becoming diaphoretic (sweating). ONCE on the trailer though...ouch.

Still not the worst breakdown I've ever seen. That "honor" goes to the magnificent filly Go For Wand in the Breeder's Cup Distaff in 1990. Just a couple of hundred feet from the finish wire she was neck and neck/stride for stride with the other favorite mare in the field (Bayakoa) when she took a bad step and nose dived into the ground, flipped over, got up and continued running to the finish...on 3 legs. The other leg, her right front had snapped in half and was danglin and waving about wildly by a strip of skin about a 1/2 inch wide. She was euthanized on the spot. see pics of her and the injury (VERY GRAPHIC!!) at http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/classical0/gfw.html I warn you that these pics are not for the weak stomached or faint of heart...it was heart breaking to watch this live (I was 13) and it's heart breaking now. At least Barbaro has a chance.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Was that the Iowa United crash (where they knew they had trouble and the pilot did a series of maneuvers to get the plane to an airport)?


Queston---if it were a human--they would just drug the patient, maybe even induce a coma. Why can't they do something with the horse to induce a more calm behavior to facilitate healing?

 

[TerriP]

This is kind of a side-bar to the discussion...but I'm curious about something. Maybe one of you who have experience with horses can explain something me. I was listening to a news broadcast that was saying that even for Barbaro to be successful as a stud, he has to have enough strength/felxiblity to stand on his hind legs to breed a mare.

I come from the "dog world" where *****es are not bred "the old fashioned way". I don't know one breeder who does not use artifical insemination for their breedings. Why can't this be used for horses? Or is it and this news commentator was just mis-informed?

I'm just thinking that even if Barbaro does not make it (God-willing, he will) he could still produce off-spring.