So true. The extraordinary measures they've taken with Barbaro can't happen with every horse, obviously. I just wish those little bones -- on all of them -- weren't so fragile and at the same time, so crucial to their very lives. It's just sad.
Posted on Sun, Jun. 04, 2006
RACING NOTEBOOK
Fans continue to offer support for Barbaro
DERBY WINNER RECEIVES GET-WELL CARDS, E-MAILS
By Maryjean Wall
HERALD-LEADER RACING WRITER
Barbaro won't go short on reading material during his convalescence from his broken leg.
Churchill Downs sent 12 horse-sized get-well cards this past week, each card 6-by-4 feet. Thousands of fans signed the cards at the track.
And there was more. Barbaro got a complete care package from Churchill that also included a large feed tub full of horse toys and treats, intended for himself and other horse patients at University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center.
Included for Barbaro's personal use in the care package was a personalized "Kentucky Derby 132" horse blanket, signed with get-well wishes from the Churchill Downs staff.
He also received a Kentucky Derby scrapbook filled with news stories about his winning race in Derby 132 May 6. Churchill Downs forwarded a stack of e-mail messages sent to him care of the track.
Barbaro couldn't be doing better in his recovery from the surgery to repair the fracture, according to the New Bolton Web site.
The way grass-eaters have adapted established a real systemic problem: a bulky body to contain all of those necessary loops and loops of gut to digest rough grass, and relatively fragile legs to run fast and far from predators. The two don't really mix very well.