05/21/06 13:20
THBRD-Barbaro-Surgery

^THBRD-Barbaro-Surgery@
^INDEX:Sports@

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. - Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro went into
surgery Sunday to determine the extent of "life-threatening
injuries" after the colt broke three bones above and below his right
rear ankle at the start of the Preakness Stakes.
The surgery was being performed by Dr. Dean Richardson at the
University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center for Large Animals. He
said the operation could take several hours.
Richardson, the chief of surgery for the centre, said the
injuries were "very, very serious," and that he's never worked on so
many catastrophic injuries to one horse.
"You do not see this severe injury frequently because the fact is
most horses that suffer this typically are put down on the race
track," Richardson said. "This is rare."
"It's about as bad as it could be," he added. "The main thing
going for the horse is a report that his skin was not broken at the
time of injury. It's a testament to the care given to the team of
doctors on the track and (jockey) Mr. Prado on the racetrack."
Richardson said 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.


**The sad part about all this is that they're only putting such effort into saving this horse because he still may have "use-value" as a stud.

A previous Derby champion, Ferdinand, ended up in Japan, being used for horse meat or pet food:

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=17051




(AP)

I don't understand... I looked for more news coverage of the injury, and found nothing. Sounds bad. :(

I heard this on the news. Very sad. Poor Barbaro.

If he was a gelding, they would have put him down right there on the track.
This is all about his potentially-valuable testicles. :(

This was all I could find at the moment.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horses/2006-05-21-barbaro-surgery_x.htm?csp=34

That's so sad. :(

Tess, that's funny. It was the front page story in the post today, and was all over CNN last night. It is very sad.

my husband and i are very emotional over this horse.

the injuries themselves can be fixed, but what really upsets us is that the only reason why they would be is to determine if the horse has 'value.'

in the area, there are a number of horse enthusiasts who are hoping for the opportunity to 'rescue' this horse if he doesn't have very good 'stud value' or other value.

my husband asked me why i was so concerned, and when i told him that rich people who put their money into horses for racing want the horses to have value as stud or mare horses if they cannot race themselves. otherwise, these horses are 'taking up room' and 'using resources' that horses on whom they could make money could use.

and so we wept.

i am trying to see what sort of action-plan some of the local folks are putting together to rescue him if he is determined to be without stud value. there is an equine 'retirement home' (for pleasure-ridden horses, race horses, and horses who were no longer 'wanted' because they were too old to be ridden or had some health problem that makes it hard for them to be 'useful') in chester county--i've contacted them about this--and i have a number of friends who have also taken an interest in this horse.

sad thing is, this good horse is only one of thousands in the same predicament every day.

and so we wept again.

Here's the link from local news:
Latest News on Barbaro (http://www.nbc10.com/news/9249591/detail.html)

This was updated as of 6 o'clock EST. There's no report after 5 hours of surgery. The life-threatening aspect is that the injury could cut off circulation to the leg leading to a number of problems. The hope is to fuse the joint and set the bones so that he can put weight on the foot, as well as to keep the blood flowing.

zoe..if you and Ryan do discover some way to help, please be sure to post it here. I was reading the story this morning and wondered too, if there was some way to "adopt" him or something.

They take this wonderful creature, drug him, train him incessantly, turn him into this freak of nature. Then, his leg breaks.

:evil:

http://sports.yahoo.com/rah/news;_ylt=AoTuxtQWeJcoWHvfE80Hly0X47kF?slug=ap-barbaro-surgery&prov=ap&type=lgns

A quote from this article sums it all up: "You do not see this severe injury frequently because the fact is most horses that suffer this typically are put down on the race track," said Richardson, the chief of surgery for the center.

Tess, that's funny. It was the front page story in the post today, and was all over CNN last night. It is very sad.
A few hours makes a big difference, apparently. I just ran the same search, and this time several articles about the injury came up. Earlier it was all still pre-race news.

After reading the articles, I'm so surprised at how it happened. I assumed he actually took a fall, but apparently it was just a bad misstep and he didn't go down.

Tesseract: Yeah, I still don't think they've figured out what the horse was doing. The eye witness reports said that he kept not wanting to touch the ground with one of his feet. So he was trying to run (gunshot, other horses running), but lift up his foot at the same time.

I heard about this last night. It's so sad. :(

I once saw a race where a horse broke a leg. They put up a screen so that people couldn't see, but we were sitting on an angle to the screen - it wasn't very effective. They came with a tractor with a pallet on the front and the owner went down the track to where the horse was, then they shot it, dragged it onto the pallet and took it away, apparently to an offal hole the track has for these occurances. It was all over in about 15 minutes. 1/4 of an hour to decide to kill a horse. No x-rays, I don't even know if a vet looked at it. I guess they know when a horse is useless to them. :mad:

I used to love horse racing, then I realized that you couldn't love horses and horse racing because of how modern racing is.

BTW, another Derby winner went to slaughter too, proving that slaughter is the end of most of the race horses, if even the winning horses end up there.

I used to love horse racing, then I realized that you couldn't love horses and horse racing because of how modern racing is.

I think that is a horrid misconception on your part. Have you not seen the people involved directly in the horse industry? People do it for a LOVE of the HORSE. How ELSE do you think that you could get people to work their entire lives for $400 a week and less-than-spectacular living quarters? Yes, the thoroughbred industry is a multi-billion-dollar-a-year business... but the large majority of the money that is out there is being won/earned by a small percentage of those at the very top of the sport. For every horse in a $1million stakes, there are a thousand others running for $5,000 purses at smaller tracks around the nation. If people were in this sport solely for the money, there would be a helluva lot less racing than there is.

I suggest that all of you take a walk around the backside of the track before you make your assumptions of the entire sport. Take a look at the grooms painstakingly picking individual straw bits from the tails of their horses, grooming them until they have a spit-shine; the way a horse nickers at familiar footsteps coming down the shedrow to feed; the outrider who bends over to hug his horses neck as he stands at the rail; the exercise rider singing softly to calm a nervous horse on the track; and even in the tragic moments, a jockey breaking into tears when his mount breaks down... this sport is amazing. Horses are creatures of such extremes - so powerful and yet so delicate... and so willing to give you everything they are, to put forth their entire hearts to get their head across the wire in front.

I do know that, as in every sport, there are obviously those who aren't as I've described. There will always be those who frankly just want another paycheck out of a horse... dropping down in a claiming rank to have the horse picked up and possibly win... those who illegally drug... but you cannot come down on the entire sport because of it......... horse racing is being policed very well... and every year, there are further actions that come into place to protect the well-being of the horses and riders involved in the sport.

For example: polytrack is being installed at numerous tracks across the country. This synthetic surface is already proven to have reduced the number of fatal injuries of horses who are run on it by quite a lot (Turfway park, last year 25 fatal injuries... this year's meet(first meet over the polytrack), 1 fatality). California has already mandated the installation of the surface at EVERY CA track. Many others across the country are switching as well.

As far as slaughter is concerned... horse owners across the country, a huge number of those involved in the racing industry, are making huge steps in the fight to have horse slaughter abolished in the united states. Congress has already passed a law that would force the 2 remaining equine slaughterhouses to close (although the USDA is basically ignoring this at present, and pissing off a whole load of people). So don't assume that all racetrackers, when a horse is finished, want to ship him off to the nearest slaughterhouse.

I think that a whole load of people on here have a very bad misconception of what horse racing really is all about. People are in this sport in great part for the love of horses, the power, the adrenaline, the beauty, the rush.... and as riders go (like myself, a jockey-in-training), that indescribeable feeling when you truly become one with a horse, running down the stretch full-out, willing one another to cross that wire with your heads in front. There really is no way to understand, really, until you experience that... and once you do... there's no way you could ever give it up.

*********

LATEST BARBARO UPDATES::: he's out of surgery, which went as well as anyone could have hoped... he's got a long road ahead, but things are looking up.

Thanks for your valuble insight into horse racing.
$400 a week is a lot of money where I come from...I was earning $50 a week when I had a regular job.

IF horse racing is indeed about the love of horses, then how come such a large percentage of horses being slaughtered are race horses?. Or were last time I read about the statistics of horse slaughter.
If the slaughterhouses are closed and the problem of too many horses remains, what then?. Ship them to Mexico to be slaughtered there?.

Thanks for your valuble insight into horse racing.
$400 a week is a lot of money where I come from...I was earning $50 a week when I had a regular job.
$400 a week is definitely quite little to get by on. And that is at the top-end of the spectrum for grooms and the like.

IF horse racing is indeed about the love of horses, then how come such a large percentage of horses being slaughtered are race horses?. Or were last time I read about the statistics of horse slaughter.
If the slaughterhouses are closed and the problem of too many horses remains, what then?. Ship them to Mexico to be slaughtered there?.
I don't have an answer as to what the percentages of horses being slaughtered in the United States are racehorses vs. other sorts of horses... although you have to take into account that Thoroughbreds are not the only horses being raced... there are also Quarter Horses, Appaloosas, Arabians, Standardbreds... all these are being raced as well, which would make the number of "racehorses" who are slaughtered a higher number than "western pleasure" or "hunters". Get where I'm coming from? As for what is to be done with the "problem of too many horses"... that is already being aided by many organizations in the equine industry. Groups like the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation are lobbying congress, and educating the general public and racing industry professionals about the advantages of retiring/retraining racehorses for other disciplines after their racing careers are finished. Groups like this have already made headway in preventing many good horses from going to slaughter, and have helped to make waves in the attempt to close US slaughterhouses.

As for shipping to Mexico, yes, this does happen. But when it does happen, it is often a matter of shippers/meatpackers finding ways to get around the rules already in place. For example, California has outlawed the sale of horses for slaughter. But shippers have gotten by this in some ways by simply stating that they are shipping out of country... not revealing the horses true intended end. In order for horse slaughter to be truly controlled, and eventually, ended, states themselves must place stricter regulations on the shipping of horses out of state and out of country. It is not something that the Racing Comissions can control directly. Banning/ending slaughter of horses (or anything, for that matter) is something that must come about because of public outcry. If the public are aware that horses (of ALL disciplines and breeds) are being slaughtered, and they want to make a change, it has to happen that way. Coming down on one industry is not the way to make a change. Lobbying, and public education are the two ways that will have the most impact.

while talking to a number of people in the local horse and horse-racing industry, many horses who were bred for racing are not bought as pleasure horses at the auctions because they need at least 6 months of pasture time to just 'chill' and then another 3-6 months to be retrained to be a pleasure horse, and then perhaps another 3-6 months before multiple people can ride them. it's a lot of effort and expense for an already expensive horse.

therefore, many of these horses go for slaughter--more so than other 'kinds' of horses such as those for just 'pleasure riding.' when people are looking for a horse as a companion, etc, then they're looking for a horse that is healthy, gentle, and well trained. there are a number of types of horses that do not fit this bill.

i think that people in the industry, generally speaking, do love horses. they know horses and they know how to care for horses. but, they're balancing that with the work that the horses do--making profit for their owners either in racing or in breeding (which is where the real money is). often, it is the owner, not the trainer or the person bathing the horse or the jockey--or any other person who may be emotionally attached to the horse--who makes the decision as to whether or not it will be raced, whether or not the horse will be pastured or sent to auction (where left over horses are often bought at a cheaper price for slaughter), whether or not the horse will live and die if it cannot put weight on it's feet.

one of the things that was explained to my by a racing horse trainer is that horses cannot be down for a long period of time. they're simply too heavy to lay down for long periods of time. they can't be in wheel chairs and crutches while they recover from severe injuries. these injuries can cause blood clots, lack of circulation which can cause tissue death and infection, and quite literally, they can't distribute their weight over 3 legs well enough to support themselves. and all of this pain and suffering is important to consider if it's an injury that can't be healed such that the horse will have four complete, functioning legs.

this is why an ankle or leg injury is so dangerous to the horse. many doctors and vets can discern through palpitation (touching) whether or not a leg is broken, tendons are torn, or there are various other problems that a horse can't come back from. x-rays may not be necessary in some cases to understand the extent of the injuries and decide whether or not an animal can 'come back from' this and then from there, whether or not it's worth the expense to do so in light of the profit and care situation of the horse.

i'm not saying it's right, i'm just saying that's what it is. care for a horse is expensive. care for an injured horse is even more expensive. care for a horse that can't make profit and can live 25 more years--plus the horse's special care needs--that's a huge undertaking even for millionaires. and honestly, most of them don't see the animals as family members, but as fun investments.

nevertheless, there are many 'horse people' who see their animals as companions, as members of the family, and will do everything in their power for a horse.

and my experience, recently, with those who know those who know barbaro (yes, ti's a few steps away) say that the horse will have a home, even when he's past his prime. partly because of the attachment to the horse, and partly because people have stepped up to say that when he is no longer profitable to them, there are people who will care for him if they no longer want to care for him.

i think the word 'sport' is definitely being used incorrectly here. how about torture? enslavement? servitude? domination? abuse?

I think that is a horrid misconception on your part. Have you not seen the people involved directly in the horse industry?
Yes, and you've listed virtually all of them in detail. Which leads to a rather obvious question: if all the human trappings of animal racing simply weren't present, would there still be a race?

I can relate to HorseGal, having worked in the racing industry for a time.
There are elements that are nasty, but overall I'd say those involved love horses.
Many of the horses love what they do as well. I used to lease a retired Standardbred pacer who enjoyed roaming loose in a paddock, but preferred when I rode him on a 1/2 mile track, even into his 20's. There was no force, abuse, beating, or anything of the sort involved.
I'm not saying the racing industry is spotless, but many of the equines involved enjoy themselves and many of the humans are in it for the love of the horses.

I can relate to HorseGal, having worked in the racing industry for a time.
There are elements that are nasty, but overall I'd say those involved love horses.
Many of the horses love what they do as well. I used to lease a retired Standardbred pacer who enjoyed roaming loose in a paddock, but preferred when I rode him on a 1/2 mile track, even into his 20's. There was no force, abuse, beating, or anything of the sort involved.
I'm not saying the racing industry is spotless, but many of the equines involved enjoy themselves and many of the humans are in it for the love of the horses.

Thank GOD! A vegan with a brain!!!!!!! :bobo:

(((oooh... I can just hear the backlash beginning :notvegan: LMAO)))

Thank GOD! A vegan with a brain!!!!!!! :bobo:

(((oooh... I can just hear the backlash beginning :notvegan: LMAO)))

Actually, that you call yourself a vegan makes me want to puke my lunch up. Because in my mind you're not.

Brain? How about this. You are using the horses and supporting racing. Sure, when you're done racing your horses as they become older you'll more than likely take care of them until they die. I hope so anyhow.

Most race horses aren't so fortunate. By participating in horse racing you are supporting a "sport" (loosely used) that contributes to the cruelty and in the end needless deaths many many horses.

http://www.horse-protection.org/ (I'm a member)



Brain? I wish you'd use yours and see what you're doing in the big picture.