05-01 - Horse Racing - Barbaro (April 29, 2003 – January 29, 2007)

In his fourth year of life, Barbaro strided through the finish line at the World-Famous Kentucky Derby race, in near-record time/distance. Up to this point, he was undefeated in every race that he has ran. (Quite an impressive feat, for such a young horse.)

At his next race, the Preakness Stakes, Barbaro was the heavy favorite. After jumping the gate early, he was cleared fit and subsequently reloaded back into his gate. Not long after the race started, Barbaro suffered a serious injury to his hind leg:

Barbaro broke his right hind leg in more than 20 places: 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 was dislocated, and his foot was left dangling loosely. Veteran jockey Edgar Prado immediately pulled Barbaro up, and brought him to a gentle stop. He dismounted and leaned his shoulder into the horse's shoulder to support Barbaro until track attendants could arrive. (Wiki Article on Barbaro)

From what I've read, the broken hind-leg of a horse is considered life-threatening. With the absence of one-leg, complications can arise from the other three legs for supporting such a huge amount of weight on them. A DAY after the race, Barbaro was admitted to University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center for treatment. Immediately after his arrival, he under-went surgery to repair his broken leg. This procedure lasted well over 5 hours and was deemed one of the most difficult surgeries performed by his veternarian at the time.

Highlights of the surgery:

- Successfully implanted a Synthes stainless steel Locking Compression Plate (LCP)
- Infused 27 screws into various locations along Barbaros' injured leg
- Fiberglass cast was put over the LCP, to ensure strength and stability

Post-surgery rehab started on a good note, he was able to apply weight to both hind legs and his posture looked great. Sometime during the 1st week of recovery, Barbaro started to suffer complications resulting from the surgery. I will list a timeline of events that leads up to his death:

Timeline:

- July 2006 - Complications arise when an abscess develops on his uninjured left foot.
- July 13, 2006 - A severe case of laminitis develops in the same leg that had the abscess. (left-hind leg) Doctors removed about 80% of his hoof and forced Barbaro to have both of his hind legs in casts. A special sling was developed and installed in his stall. (this allowed Barbaro to take pressure off of his hind legs for hours at a time.
- August 8, 2006 - Recovery efforts are looking more positive. He his more agile and his level of comfort is noticeable
- November 6, 2006 - Barbaro removes both of his casts and his laminic hoof showed positive signs of re-growth. Recovery for Barbaro looked imminent.
- January, 2007 - Barbaro is admitted back into the hospital with additional injuries to his hind legs. These injuries utilized the same procedure which was done in June of last year.
- January 27-29, 2007 - Barbaro's luck seems to have left him. His previously healthy front-legs have now been diagnosed with a severe case of laminitis. Now he has no reliable legs to stand upon.
- January 29, 2007 at 10:30 am EST - Barbaro was euthanized, this decision was made by his owners who felt that his pain was no longer manageable.

He was a third-generation descendant of Mr. Prospector, and as such Barbaro was related to many recent Triple Crown hopefuls including Big Brown, Afleet Alex, Smarty Jones, Funny Cide and Fusaichi Pegasus.

If you are a person that gets offended when you see animals used in this way, then you should learn more about this sport before you make your own opinions. Humans crave entertainment, money, prestige, competition and legacy. That doesn't mean the sport lacks sympathy, morals, respect and above all else.. tradition. Just as human athletes are provided the top medical care and training, the same goes for these magnificent animals.