Posted on 05/26/2006 8:17:39 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
I remember watching on TV when the great filly, Ruffian, broke her leg. Before I even noticed anything amiss, Dad hollered out, "She's pulling up lame". His eyes for horses were thoses of a true natural horseman. I know that he didn't watch the Preakness this year or I'd ask him. I remember watching Ruffian fretting and looking towards the retreating back side of her rival. The competitiveness in her not wanting to accept seeing another horse in the lead. She was a great one!
Indeed. The heartbreak of watching how long it took Barbaros to come to a stop was upsetting enough.
That's funny! We stood a world champion Tennessee Walking horse whose preferences ran for short mares (15.2 and under hands) with wide hips. If the mare was close to 16 hands, even in good heat, forget it.
I used to breed and show Siamese cats, and I had one queen who was very picky about who she would breed with, even in full season. She rejected one very desirable Lilac Point boy out of hand - much preferring his Blue Point rival (the Lilac Point boy, Hot Shot, would pee in Apache's water bowl if given half a chance. But Apache got the girl.)
Apparently Barbaro is a much calmer patient than Ruffian -- it was during the post-surgery recovery period that she reinjured herself so badly. Of course, the recovery methods and technology have improved too.
The starting gate evolved from permanent partitions set in chute extensions I believe at Agua Caliente in the 1920s or 30s. The next step was the rolling gate without doors, just partitions. The starting gate as we know it dates to at least the 1940s.
As late as the mid-1960s, Laurel's Washington DC International was started using a web stretched across the track to accomodate horses from outside North America without gate experience. Kelso ran in at least one of these.
I want to know more about Brother Derek too....talk about a horse that had horrendous luck from the Derby to the Preakness...Brother Derek got a bum rap.
Lost his horseshoe in the Derby and drew a lousy post position but still managed to come in 4th. He was next to Barbaro at the Preakness and had to pull his horse aside? did anyone see the clip?
Now, Brother Derek is not running in the Belmonts
I this this was used in Australia, in the 1930s. As I understand it, Australia was the first racing association to buck the Jockey Club (England) and experiment with starting gates, photo finishes, etc.
He was fine. People absolutely LOVE to find things wrong. Next people will be trying to connect the fact that the owner is a grandson of the Rockerfellers and trying to connect Barbaros injury to President Bush.
I was thinking more in the cowboy day when they just fired a gun:') I like watching horses run but I don't like to watch horses race.
We were out hunting, and 3-4 teenagers went whipping past us on T'breds and QHs . . . their legs were a blur, I mean those horses were MOVING. Gracie and I kept our sedate canter and just watched them go by . . .
Reading these articles made me bawl all over again. You think the trainer would hurt his horse like that you idiot conspiracy theorists? YOu need to get your heads out from where the sun doesn't shine and look at reality.
Now's a Time for Healing, for Barbaro and for Matz
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/25/sports/othersports/25racing.html
Matz can only dream of what might have been
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/14662143.htm?source=rss&channel=dailynews_sports
Prado's thoughts still with Barbaro
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060526/ap_on_sp_ot/rac_tc1_barbaro_prado_2
Yall go ahead. I'll hang behind. I don't like crowds:')
How's he doing today?
I think it means that a difference of opinion makes a horse race. If everyone had identical information, there would be no advantage to placing a bet, because the posted odds would be proportional to the true probability of each horse winning the race.
The breed book on Thoroughbreds goes back to the start of the breed. DNA tracing was not available 200 years ago. The only way to verify the breeding was live cover that is witnessed by the stallion handler and mare handler. These documents go to the Jockey Club for registration. AI is not allowed for a variety reasons .1) Breeding is supposed to improve the breed. When one stallion predominant the TB breed book then weaknesses come into the breed. 2) Live requires the mare come to the stalion and that keeps breeding more local.
3)DNA testing is not done on horses too expensive for normal registration.
On another thread someone said that a champion Labroador was bred via AI to most of the show dogs and then a weekness cropped up and affected a large portion of the breed.
Not allowing the bred to become too inbred helps the health. Also many sires that were not that great such a Dynaformer, Bararo's sire were not that great as a race horse but has been very sucessful in his offsrping.
He is doing great! The Bloodhorse had an article on the she that they have on his left hind leg to try to protect it from laminitis, or anything else.
http://tcm.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=33737
Can anyone explain why a broken leg is life-threatening for a horse, even if it heals imprefectly?
Well, a couple reasons. From a purely health standpoint, movement is health to a horse. A horse can't lie motionless to heal, he has to move in order to get good circulation to his legs and feet. The lower leg of a horse has almost no muscle, only bone and tendon, neither of which has a lot of blood flow. And it takes good circulation to heal.
Now, shift focus not only on the bad foot, but on the good feet and legs. Horses stalled and not able to move during a convelenscence risk laminitis, an acute circulation-related malady of the foot that, if it progresses, leads to pain so severe and irreversable the only humane thing is to put him down. So it's not just the bad foot, but the rest of his feet that suffer.
So the key will be to get him putting weight on it and walking as soon as is practical without damaging the mend.
Secondarily, from a soundness perspective, since horses are too big and too expensive to keep as big gimpy pets, normally a horse that will never have good movement again is put down. Movement is what we keep horses for, ordinarily. There is some fear that he will not be strong enough to stand on his rear foot well enough to breed. I don't share that fear. Since they fused the ankle, it should heel strong, even if it gives him a rather hitchy walk, he should do fine as a stud, if he can get through the healing process.
There's other mental and physical aspects to stall rest that can be harmful to the horse, but I've explained the big ones somewhat correctly I think.
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