Posted on 05/27/2006 4:40:26 PM PDT by beyond the sea
The e-mails come from across the globe, deluging a University of Pennsylvania Web site with personal pep talks for an utterly oblivious beast.
"Barbaro, I am only 12 but if I was 30 I would become a vet and make you better in one second!" wrote Maeve Geismar of Annapolis, Md.
"You are such a sweet baby! Our love for horses is so represented by the outpouring of well wishes for you! Mend and have the best life!" wrote Mary Baird, 49, of Pflugerville, Texas.
"My Mom had a new hip and was just fine, and so will you be just fine," declared Kathy Fish, 63, of New York, N.Y.
The means of expression have changed since the Ice Age, when prehistoric man drew pictures of horses on cave walls -- more images of horses, according to one study, than of any other animal. The emotion behind the expression remains the same in the computer age. Barbaro's jarring journey from champion to victim to (so far) survivor serves as a societal reminder: Our bond with equine kind is indefinable, intimate and infinite.
"The horse is still sort of a shadowed deity in the culture," said John Jeremiah Sullivan, a writer-at-large for GQ whose fascinating 2004 book, "Blood Horses," in part examines the joined histories of man and horse. "There's just this inexplicable sense of attachment that goes back to the very beginning. … The closest thing I have to a theory is that this association has been part of the species for so long -- this instinct to venerate them -- that it has almost wired itself into our cultural DNA."
That wiring is rarely more conductive than when a thoroughbred is injured.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
sweet horse ............. ping
Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro looks out from his stall in the intensive care unit at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center for Large Animals in Kennett Square, Pa., Tuesday, May 23, 2006. Barbaro underwent surgery Sunday after a catastrophic break of his right rear leg Saturday during the start of the 131st running of the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore. (AP Photo/The University of Pennsylvania, Sabina Louise Pierce)
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From an older thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1638759/posts
The hospital is the only one in the mid-Atlantic region with a water pool for post-op recovery, Richardson said. That greatly assisted Barbaro in the hours after his six-hour surgery Sunday. And a huge positive, Sweeney said, has been the colt's intelligence and comprehension of events.
"Some horses fight treatment, often with fatal consequences,'' she said.
"Others, like Barbaro, understand that you are trying to help them.''
BARBARO ..................... PING
Barbaro .......... ping.
Thanks for the ping. He's doing a lot better than I thought he would. That's terrific...I hope he sees his grand-colts and fillies.
Good for him. His fine attitude toward treatment will carry him through.
This article brings up some interesting points. I've always wondered what is it about horses that makes preteen girls turn to mush.
Me too!
I figure someone let on to him how much fun his retirement will be. :-)
"Of course this kind of thing happens because they're being asked to do something their bodies aren't able to do."
This is not far from true way too often.
Oops.............. This is not far from true way to often.
I'm very tired. Gotta go to sleep.
"..... race horses are -- like most domesticated animals -- almost universally laudable creatures. They try hard, do not complain and do not get in much off-the-track trouble. They're pure.
And they are absolutely beautiful, at rest and especially in motion."
I'm no preteen girl, lol, decades past those days, but these absolutely beautiful creatures turn me to mush too. I just hope all the fabulous care he's getting, along with what seems to be an intelligent understanding that people are working with him to HELP him, will lead to the best possible outcome. He deserves many happy years on the farm, doing the stud thing, if possible.
pattyjo
"I've always wondered what is it about horses that makes preteen girls turn to mush."
Horses are frequently better looking than pre-teen or teenage boys. Are too, are too! They're big handsome/beautiful animals who rely heavily on human beings for their care. And young women love to take care of them.
Learning to ride well gives young women (anyone, really) the opportunity to feel a sense of mastery and power over an enormous animal. As well as a sense of mastery over one's own self. It's a challenge to be in charge of a 1,000+ pounds of horse flesh. It requires courage, singlemindedness, self reliance, problem-solving, poise, and countless other things a young women might not be called upon to practice in any other arena.
Not to mention how much fun it is to ride. Riding through a field at a full gallop at 11-years-old is as terrific as it is at any other age. Difference being, young women rarely feel as independent and as in charge as they do atop a horse.
I could go on and on but I imagine that will help you understand what isn't even a question for young women. They're big, they're beautiful, they need stuff, they're fun, and they give young women a tremendous sense of independence. That about wraps it up.
I am not ashamed to admit that I send him a "get well" e-mail
Another great thing about horses, it lets girls get the whole "crush" thing out of their system instead of taking it out on boys . ..
Horses kept me out of trouble all the way through high school.
Considering the boy is just about a week out from a severe orthopedic injury, he's looking pretty darn good.
Hardly a flattering shot . . . looks like he's sweating a little bit, although that may be marks from the sling.
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