Amy in Vermont
05-21-2006, 12:56 PM
I don't know how many of you follow horse racing at all, but yesterday's Preakness delivered a crushing emotional blow to millions of racing fans.
Barbaro, the favorite, broke down in the first 100 yards of the race.. by all accounts, a freak misstep. The injury, 3 broken bones in a hind leg, is career ending, if not life threatening.
While horse racing has its critics for valid reasons, it is also the impetus to a large percentage of advances in veterinary AND human medicine, especially orthopedics.
This was not a 2 bit race horse running on the leaky roof circuit with a hack trainer.
This was a superb example of equine form and function, the result of careful breeding, trained and cared for by one of the world's foremost horsemen, who is a hero in his own right. All bets were that he would go all the way and win the Triple Crown. It was a fairy tale scenario.
As I write, Barbaro is in surgery at the finest equine hospital in the world. They will attempt to repair and/or fuse the fractures in a surgical procedure that is extremely complex. Then comes recovery. Often times, with horses, the surgery is a success, only to have the patient reinjure themselves as they come out of anethesia.
At the facility he is at, horses coming out of anesthesia are put into the horse equivalent of a fly fisherman's float tube, and floated in a swimming pool. They come to suspended upright in the safety of the pool, giving much less opportunity to do damage. Only once they have their full faculties about them are they gradually brought "back on land" to their recovery quarters.
Had he been human, Barbaro would be made to spend the next 3-6 months in bed. But a horse cannot lie down in one position for more than 2 hours without developing a number of problems, including pneumonia, because of their body weight and structure. Barbaro is sure to be spending the next several weeks or more in a sling, tranquilized and on pain killers and anti-inflammatory meds.
I have mixed feelings. I was literally sick to my stomach as I watched it happen on TV. As an experienced horse person, I could see that it was a grave injury. A less valuable horse would have been euthanized as soon as the x-rays were read. This horse, should he survive, will spend the rest of his days at stud, with hopes that his off spring will be as good as he is ( doesn't always happen... the great Secretariat was pretty much a flop as a sire).
I don't know where I'm going with this... I guess I just wanted to verbalize my feelings!
A
Barbaro, the favorite, broke down in the first 100 yards of the race.. by all accounts, a freak misstep. The injury, 3 broken bones in a hind leg, is career ending, if not life threatening.
While horse racing has its critics for valid reasons, it is also the impetus to a large percentage of advances in veterinary AND human medicine, especially orthopedics.
This was not a 2 bit race horse running on the leaky roof circuit with a hack trainer.
This was a superb example of equine form and function, the result of careful breeding, trained and cared for by one of the world's foremost horsemen, who is a hero in his own right. All bets were that he would go all the way and win the Triple Crown. It was a fairy tale scenario.
As I write, Barbaro is in surgery at the finest equine hospital in the world. They will attempt to repair and/or fuse the fractures in a surgical procedure that is extremely complex. Then comes recovery. Often times, with horses, the surgery is a success, only to have the patient reinjure themselves as they come out of anethesia.
At the facility he is at, horses coming out of anesthesia are put into the horse equivalent of a fly fisherman's float tube, and floated in a swimming pool. They come to suspended upright in the safety of the pool, giving much less opportunity to do damage. Only once they have their full faculties about them are they gradually brought "back on land" to their recovery quarters.
Had he been human, Barbaro would be made to spend the next 3-6 months in bed. But a horse cannot lie down in one position for more than 2 hours without developing a number of problems, including pneumonia, because of their body weight and structure. Barbaro is sure to be spending the next several weeks or more in a sling, tranquilized and on pain killers and anti-inflammatory meds.
I have mixed feelings. I was literally sick to my stomach as I watched it happen on TV. As an experienced horse person, I could see that it was a grave injury. A less valuable horse would have been euthanized as soon as the x-rays were read. This horse, should he survive, will spend the rest of his days at stud, with hopes that his off spring will be as good as he is ( doesn't always happen... the great Secretariat was pretty much a flop as a sire).
I don't know where I'm going with this... I guess I just wanted to verbalize my feelings!
A