Preakness - Barbaro - OMG!!!

[Deb in IA]

And here is an EXCELLENT interview with Laura Hillenbrand, author of "Seabiscuit", about Barbaro, his injury, his prospects for recovery, why he captured so many hearts, and comparison to Seabiscuit.


It is long, about 22 minutes, but very good, and very informative for anyone who has followed this story, and anyone who is interested in horse racing.


Laura Hiilenbrand really knows her stuff, and explains it very well.

Go to the ABCNews page, and click on the sepia-colored banner at the top: Exclusive Interview with Laura Hillenbrand.

http://abcnews.go.com/

 

[Deb in IA]

Sorry, double post . . . DIS must have hiccuped when the server was "too busy" . . .

 

[maxiesmom]

I found that link too! I went ahead and sent him a message. I feel kind of silly that I sent a horse an e-mail, and cried while I did it . But I really think he can feel all of our good wishes. And I think it is really sweet that people are sending him apples and carrots. Keeping the good thoughts coming and the prayers going up!

 

[crazymomof4]

I found that link too! I went ahead and sent him a message. I feel kind of silly that I sent a horse an e-mail, and cried while I did it .

I want to send a message too, but I tear up every time they do a news update...don't think I'd get through typing a message. Don't know when exactly this horse stole my heart, but he did.

Today DD5 and I were watching the live press conference with the vet and the owners. The vet said, "Barbaro is not out of the woods yet." DD turns to me and said, "Barbaro went into the woods?"

Positive signs so far based on the article about possible complications posted above:
".... also have to worry about how the antibiotics will interact with large doses of painkillers" ----The vet said that today Barbaro is on "minimal analgesics".

"If Barbaro starts favoring his wounded leg post-surgery, he may overload his other legs, causing a condition known as laminitis."
If he bore weight already on his injured leg by lifting his left leg to scratch, while on minimal painkillers, I think that must be a good sign.

"Not all horses are willing to sit around in a sling, and the antsy ones can thrash about and break their limbs all over again".
So far, Barbaro is said to be behaving himself in his stall. One artcle said that he has been a perfect patient from the start. The vet who put the cast on at the track said Barbaro "didn't move a muscle during the whole procedure." I think this horse is smart enough to know that his humans want what's best for him, he trusts them. I see this in my cat, whom I am treating for cancer. If this kind of intuition can exist in a cat, I have no doubt that it can exist in a horse.

In the press conference the vet also said that Barbaro's excellent physical condition at the time of the injury is a big plus.

I know that this horse still has only a 50/50 chance, I'm just trying to pull out some encouraging points from what I've heard or read today.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I know he probably won't race again--but part of me is seeing a book and movie deal out of this if Barbaro pulls through into a decent post-race life. I would sooo go see it.

Loved seabiscuit, racing stripes and still need to see that horse movie with Dakota Fanning (family saw it when I had knee surgery).

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Laura Hiilenbrand really knows her stuff, and explains it very well.

Go to the ABCNews page, and click on the sepia-colored banner at the top: Exclusive Interview with Laura Hillenbrand.

http://abcnews.go.com/

Thanks for that link. Very fascinating!

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

Oh, well sorry if I misinterpreted your post, but the tone of it sounded to me like you had already decided the horse was going to have a poor quality of life. No one actually knows whether he will be able to breed at this point. So far, this horse has defied the odds.

Actually, I'm being realistic about his prognosis. I would love to see this horse have a full recovery, but statistically it's up in the air. Like I said before, I'm a veterinarian. I've seen animals put through all kinds of horrific treatments because the owners are unwilling to do what is best for the sake of the animal. Animals don't understand chronic pain and are often unable to communicate to us that they need help/medication. Can we save him? Probably. Should we save him? Let's just hope that doing so is in his best interests.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

The vet who put the cast on at the track said Barbaro "didn't move a muscle during the whole procedure." I think this horse is smart enough to know that his humans want what's best for him, he trusts them. I see this in my cat, whom I am treating for cancer. If this kind of intuition can exist in a cat, I have no doubt that it can exist in a horse.

In the press conference the vet also said that Barbaro's excellent physical condition at the time of the injury is a big plus.

I know that this horse still has only a 50/50 chance, I'm just trying to pull out some encouraging points from what I've heard or read today.

I'm hoping that he makes the best recovery possible. Having been a horse owner for more years than I'd care to admit - his good physical condition may work against him. After a few days in the stall with no outlet for his energy he may very well injure himself again. The best horse I ever had sprained his front canon bone and was supposed to be stall kept for a minimum of 6 weeks. At day four he jumped over the wheelbarrow I had in front of his stall while I was cleaning it and ran laps around the barn. Thankfully he didn't re-injure himself. He was the most laid back, lazy animal you'd ever meet. But horses in that extremely good physical shape need an outlet for all that energy.

Don't want to be negative so let's hope that his recovery goes well!

ETA: Just for info for the non-horsey people. I have to add that the anatomy of the horse's leg is such that the circulation in the hoof/lower leg is pretty poor. The act of walking or just moving around normally with that hoof helps pump the blood back up the leg. That's part of why horses that can't stand on all 4 legs usually don't recover. There is also the danger of the hoof literally sloughing off (some of the articles refer to this as laminitis which at its worse will result in the hoof coming off). There is a whole laundry list of reasons why that will happen - I won't boor you with them. Bottom line is a horse is a horse - don't compare them with a dog or a cat. For all of their large size they are very delicate animals when it comes to internal injuries. I couldn't believe the amount of work that was done on this poor boy's leg. It is most certainly experimental - although why it hasn't been tried before I don't know. It makes sense that it "should" work. I hope it does!

 

[Deb in IA]

And for those of you who were saying that the Jacksons (Barbaro's owners) only wanted to keep him alive for the money he would bring in stud fees . . .

Roy Jackson said Barbaro was insured, and the premiums grew after the colt won the Florida Derby and the Kentucky Derby. They could have made the decision not to go through the expense of trying to save Barbaro, and likely would have collected on their policy.

"If they went to the insurance company and said they made a decision to destroy the horse, there would be no questions," Rosenberg said. "But they didn't."

 

[CheshireVal]

And for those of you who were saying that the Jacksons (Barbaro's owners) only wanted to keep him alive for the money he would bring in stud fees . . .

I read that, too, that the Jacksons said they would have tried to save Barbaro even if he were a gelding that couldn't breed.

That makes me happy-- they seem like good people.

 

[crazymomof4]

I'm hoping that he makes the best recovery possible. Having been a horse owner for more years than I'd care to admit - his good physical condition may work against him. After a few days in the stall with no outlet for his energy he may very well injure himself again.

From the transcript of the press conference with Barbaro's surgeon:

Dr.Dean Richardson: "Well, this is a - this is an elite athlete. OK? He can afford to - I mean, he dead fit right now. So he's - you know, he's not happy to be in a stall in a sense that, you know, he wants to get out and run. But he'll - horses adapt. I mean, he'll be fine in that regard. Yes, he's going to lose condition, but - I mean, think about yourself. I mean, everybody in here has had an injury at some point where if he - if you're in bed for a few weeks or a month or whatever, or even if you're on crutches, I mean, you're pretty weak when you get out of it. It takes a while to get back. I mean, it's to be expected. But he's a great athlete. He'll get back."
"I think it - again, he's a special athlete and you can - I can tell you - and I talked to Michael about this - I mean, even though he had kind of a - a little bit of a scary recovery at times, I was more confident with him because of how agile and athletic this horse is that he would get up - get up without injury. So, yes, you take a horse that's, you know, a really, really great athlete, I think it's more likely that he's got - you know, he's got - he's starting with a lot more. OK? He's starting with a lot more. So I - I'm happy to work with on a horse of this - you know, to start off with a horse of this kind of athletic ability, has strength.

He seems - he actually is so far a very good patient. OK? His mental attitude - his attitude is great. He's - you know, he's very active, inquisitive, bright type of a horse. He's - you know, he's sort of a perfect three-year-old colt. Looks just the way he should look."

 

[crazymomof4]

Just for info for the non-horsey people. Bottom line is a horse is a horse - don't compare them with a dog or a cat. For all of their large size they are very delicate animals when it comes to internal injuries.

I wasn't comparing the physical aspects of a horse to a cat or dog. Obviously there are extreme differences there......starting with about a thousand pounds.

I was pointing out the intellect and intuition that I believe animals have. Many persons (especially those who are not around animals) underestimate or completely deny the existance of such intuition. I was merely echoing the sentiment expressed by Dr. Richardson when he said, "he (Barbaro) actually is so far a very good patient. His mental attitude - his attitude is great. He's a very active, inquisitive, bright type of a horse." I was comparing my cat's uncanny cooperation during his cancer treatments to Barbaro's cooperation with his caretakers thus far.-- Not saying that if my cat broke his leg it would be ANYTHING like Barbaro's injury.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

I wasn't comparing the physical aspects of a horse to a cat or dog. Obviously there are extreme differences there......starting with about a thousand pounds.

I was pointing out the intellect and intuition that I believe animals have. Many persons (especially those who are not around animals) underestimate or completely deny the existance of such intuition. I was merely echoing the sentiment expressed by Dr. Richardson when he said, "he (Barbaro) actually is so far a very good patient. His mental attitude - his attitude is great. He's a very active, inquisitive, bright type of a horse." I was comparing my cat's uncanny cooperation during his cancer treatments to Barbaro's cooperation with his caretakers thus far.-- Not saying that if my cat broke his leg it would be ANYTHING like Barbaro's injury.

Oh I agree with you 100% on the intellect and intuition side of things!

 

[Banshee]

the intellect and intuition that I believe animals have.

Thank you! I absolutely 100% agree with you! I hate it when I hear someone say it's just a dumb animal My Mom was in the hospital for almost a year back in 1996 and when she came home and was finally able for us to get her to the barn in her wheelchair, we brought her stallion out of his stall to see her and this horse literally dropped to his knee's in front of her like he was bowing and put his nose in her lap and "talked" to her his eye's we're watering and he was ecstatic to see his mommy back. I hope all go's well with your kitty and her treatments.

 

[Hillbeans]

Did anyone hear about this/read about this? That Barbaro has such a huge amount of insurance on him that his owners could have collected over $20 million dollars on him after his accident but they wanted everything possible done to save his life? These people are GREAT people IMO!

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-sp.insurance24may24,0,556550.story?track=rss

 

[glass- slippers]

yes, I read that article! Lots of integrity and love for the horse

 

[Hillbeans]

And for those of you who were saying that the Jacksons (Barbaro's owners) only wanted to keep him alive for the money he would bring in stud fees . . .

Sorry Deb - you already posted about that -

It deserved a bump though for how much these owners love their horse. It's fascinating to see how Barbaro has captured the heart of so many Americans!

 

[Deb in IA]

No problem, Hillbeans! Actually, I found the sidebar graphics very interesting in the link to the Baltimore Sun!

It just makes me sad that people would automatically jump to the conclusion that Barbaro's owners were only interested in money. While there may be some people like that, I tend to be more optimistic, and believe that most "horsey" people do it because they truly love their animals.

 

[TerriP]

It deserved a bump though for how much these owners love their horse. It's fascinating to see how Barbaro has captured the heart of so many Americans!

An insurance policy worth an estimated $25-$30 Million and a premium upwards of $1 Million a year...and they decided to try and save him anyway (incurring more astronomical costs, btw). The Jackson's are my kind of people (well, my kind of people with a loooooooooot more money!!).

I've been visiting the Penn. Vet website every day to get updates on Barbaro. Yesterday's update included a lot of photos of him and of his stall...if you want to, take a look at all the cards, flowers, and carrots people have been sending to him. It will give ya a little "Feel Good" moment!!

 

[Deb in IA]

Thanks, Terri. I checked out the website.


This really struck me. It's a quote from Gretchen Jackson, in responding to a question about what is it about Barbaro that has captured the American public so much:

Gretchen Jackson: My hope - I hope there's some knowledge now that owners and trainers and jockeys care. It's not about money and it's not about limelight. It's more about the horse. And the beauty of it and the integrity, in a lot of levels it does exist in horse racing. And it's the most beautiful, beautiful thing when it's at this level. And maybe that was what the public captured because Michael Matz is such a wonderful, wonderful man and he spoke so eloquently about this horse at all the times, and the training. He was open sharing the experience with everybody. He loved the horse so much and I think it came out. And what's better than love? I don't know.