Triple Crown hopeful Barbaro loses... Seriously injured during race

http://www.preakness.com/ ^

[HairOfTheDog]

Post Position	Silks	Horse Name	Trainer	Jockey	Morning Line
1	(NA)	LIKE NOW (Picture NA)	Kiaran McLaughlin	Garrett Gomez	19-1
2		PLATINUM COUPLE	Joseph Lostritto	Jose Espinoza	28-1
3		HEMINGWAY'S KEY	Nick Zito	Jeremy Rose	30-1
4		GREELEY'S LEGACY	George Weaver	Richard Migliore	38-1
5		BROTHER DEREK	Dan Hendricks	Alex Solis	7-2
6		BARBARO	Michael Matz	Edgar Prado	1-2
7		SWEETNORTHERNSAINT	Michael Trombetta	Kent Desormeaux	6-1
8		BERNARDINI	Thomas Albertrani	Javier Castellano	17-1
9		DIABOLICAL	Steve Klesaris	Ramon Dominguez	24-1

[evad]

The horse is 'put down' because he is no longer useful.

[Lemondropkid31]

It jsut depends on how bad it is. If the blood circulation is bad, how it is broken, how many peices, so on and so forth. Veterinary medicine has come a very long way and horses live through amazing things, but some things are just too hard to fix, and horses cannot just lay down for 6 weeks like a human can. It's much harder on them.

[Fairview]

FYI, I understand that Dr. Bramledge developed a kind of cast system for injuries like this one, with a set of braces or rods that are set in the hoof wall and pinned into the upper cannon, so the system can support the horse's weight without placing any weight on the pastern or cannon itself. This may be something the U Penn people will utilize.

[AnAmericanMother]

The mare's worth her weight in gold, you can put anybody on her back from a four year old child to an eighty year old lady, and she'll take care of them.

I think it was all her years as a broodmare in close contact with people that made her so sensitive to humans.

A side benefit of having an ex-broodmare is that she is a really easy loader -- because she always has in the back of her mind the idea that she might be headed for A Night of Love.

As a matter of fact, if Barbaro pulls through this, I'm sure that Gracie would be happy -- nay, totally enthused -- to volunteer to assist in his rehabilitation! Purely as an act of charity, of course . . . < g >

[Rhiannon]

True, the horse that has not been in the Derby and Preaknes will have a possible advantage,but then that horse may not be at his peak of conditioning and lose anyway. The point is see what 3 yr old can do it all and that is a test of a champion. Not meant to be easy. It has been over 25 years since the last one. It was 25 years before Secretariat did and he ran away from the field in the Belmont by 33 lengths. That was a champion.

[AnAmericanMother]

Well, the Episcopalians SAY they're Anglican, but right now the Anglicans aren't exactly owning them . . .

. . . or, reason No. 3,403 Why I Swam the Tiber. < g >

I'm sure your priest Fled from the Wrath to Come just like I did . . . if you're in a really liberal ECUSA diocese and tend to the High Church wing, the Catholic church is the logical refuge.

[Himyar]

We got a beautiful black stallion when the track in Birmingham closed. The owner was going to have him put down because he was all stove up. It took him about 2 years to get right, but he was completely sound and my son roped off of him. We bred several quarter horse mares to him and got some nice foals. He dropped dead in his paddock one night when he was just 13. I've often wondered if his track experiences contributed to his early death.

[Rhiannon]

Lasix is not allowed in MD racing and it is not unusual for bleeding to occur , that is why Lasix is used in some states, it prevents bleeding.

[HairOfTheDog]

Are we sure it was a nosebleed? I didn't read it that close, I guess... Was just curious to know if he'd gotten in a scrape of his own.

[Lemondropkid31]

Hahaha well I have the address to Micheal Matz if you wanna tell him you have a mare to help in his horse's recovery!!! LOLOL!

[Lemondropkid31]

ahhhh that is why Brother Derek Bled. He had been on Lasix for all his other races.

[AnAmericanMother]

She's really not off the track - she's out of the broodmare barn. She never raced (I turned up her lip to make sure). I have had some racers that were sound though. But I always vetted the heck out of them. You're right - that cold hose/checkbook stuff gets old quick.

I think one of the reasons she's sound is that she had never looked through a bridle til she was 14 years old. (I was the first person to back her, but it was no big deal - she looked around with mild surprise "What are you doing up THERE?" but her view is that if the humans are doing something it must be o.k.) She's 22 now and still cantering along, and in those 8 years she's never been lame other than a hoof abscess once.

She really was very weedy when my trainer bought her, one of the advantages of dressage training is that it really bulks up that topline.

[HairOfTheDog]

Pardon my ignorance about horses, but how is an ankle break life threatening?

A horse has to be able to move to survive. If they can't move, they have very poor circulation to the lower leg where the blood flow required to heal must go. That's just the start of the complications to a horse's health if they can't move. It snowballs from there.

[apackof2]

Great shot!

What a pretty face your mare has

[gate2wire]

"Lasix is not allowed in MD racing..."


Sure it is. Every colt in the Preakness ran on lasix.

[slane]

Good explanation, Lemondropkid31. From what I have read the fracture below the pastern is very severe, sounds like the bone is in multiple fragments. It will be very hard to get that bone to mend, especially with a high-strung colt as a patient. I have seen similar fractures where the bone simply would not knit, even after multiple surgeries.

[djf]

Do they know yet what happened?

[AnAmericanMother]

Let's wait and see how he does.

I hate to say it, but my mare is a dreadful flirt. The barn rats mistakenly turned a half-Clydesdale, half-T'bred colt out in the pasture with her, he was a bit studly with her and she was VERY willing not to say one hundred percent ready and panting for a pasture fling.

Unfortunately for Gracie (and for him I guess), he was completely inexperienced, all show and no go . . . I have never seen such an expression of disgust on a horse's face as when Gracie realized that there wasn't going to be any hanky-panky in the pasture, no matter how hard she tried to make it happen.

[Lemondropkid31]

It's mostly going to depend on his attitude. So far his attitude has been great, according to the vet. If he can come out of the surgery safely, and he is still quiet and is careful, then there is hope.

[gate2wire]

I just got home. are Brother Derek's connections blaming his performance on bleeding?

Lasix is legal in Md. Every colt in the race was on lasix. Horses treated with lasix can still bleed.