[AnAmericanMother]

If it were your horse, or my horse, would have been euthanized where it fell. It's not that the leg "never heals", it's just that it's difficult because a horse's leg has a poor blood supply and the legs are so fragile and supporting so much weight. When the weight gets shifted around, it can cause damage to the other legs (as happened in Barbaro's case). It's such an expensive proposition to support a horse's weight properly while the leg heals that most people can't afford it.

Barbaro's amazing recovery was a "perfect storm" -

1. His owners had the money to get top flight care

2. The vets were the best in the country with all the latest techniques (especially the recovery pool and the nursing care)

3. Barbaro did not panic on the track and damage the leg further or damage the opposite leg

4. Barbaro has a tremendous will to survive and heal. Some horses give up when they are immobilized.

I admit that when laminitis (founder) developed in the opposite hind foot I thought Barbaro was a goner. I think he fooled a lot of people -- but it's good to be fooled in this instance.

[Thywillnotmine]

The article said laminitis. Here are some of the causes of laminitis:
2.1 Carbohydrate overload
2.2 Insulin resistance
2.3 Nitrogen compound overload
2.4 Hard ground
2.5 Lush pastures
2.6 Frosted grass
2.7 Freezing or overheating of the feet
2.8 Untreated infections
2.9 Colic
2.10 Lameness
2.11 Cushings disease
2.12 Peripheral Cushings disease
2.13 Retained placenta
2.14 Drug reactions
2.15 Exposure to agro-chemicals

This means that the injury was brought on by his race-horse lifestyle -- too many carbs, overly-rich hay (they feed race horses hay which is 26% protein as opposed to the 12-14% we use), drugs, perhaps even freezing of the foot to resist pain.