[Kitten Festival]

A beautiful editorial about why this wonderful precious horse mattered. Rest in peace.

[JoyjoyfromNJ]

Sorry for this knee jerk reaction--wish the NYT would write such a moving tribute about each of our fallen servicemembers. Or ANY of them. But I guess writing about human heroes is beneath them.

[nuconvert]

pong

[Capt. Jake]

Good thing his mother did not exercise her right to choose.

[Mr. Mojo]

After an injury like that, most racehorses would have been put down minutes later.

True enough. But unlike Barbaro most racehorses don't have the potential to make big bucks at the stud farm.

[Joe 6-pack]

Born in the valley
And raised in the trees
Of western Kentucky
On wobbly knees
With mama beside you
To help you along
Youll soon be a growing up strong.

All the long, lazy mornings
In pastures of green
The sun on your withers
The wind in your mane
Could never prepare you
For what lies ahead
The run for the roses so red --

And its run for the roses
As fast as you can
Your fate is delivered
Your moments at hand
Its the chance of a lifetime
In a lifetime of chance
And its high time you joined
In the dance
Its high time you joined
In the dance --

From sire to sire
Its born in the blood
The fire of a mare
And the strength of a stud
Its breeding and its training
And its something unknown
That drives you and carries
You home.

And its run for the roses
As fast as you can
Your fate is delivered
Your moments at hand
Its the chance of a lifetime
In a lifetime of chance
And its high time you joined
In the dance
Its high time you joined
In the dance --

[End Times Sentinel]

We'll always have Smarty Jones.

Owl_Eagle

If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.

[Varda]

"Conscience often comes in last, but not in this case. Barbaro’s owners gave that horse exactly what he had given them, which is everything."

It's not conscience that equates what a horse gives and what is due from an owner. It's the animal rights perspective. It's a good thing that most horse owners don't do this, horses would soon be extinct.

[NavyCanDo]

29 to 1 odds that this race horse gets more space in the NY Times that the latest passing of a President.


Granted he was a great horse and supposedly had a special character that made this horse loved by those who worked with him but you have to put things into perspective here.

[dc-zoo]

Reported on Rush's show, Barbaro's last meal was grass.

[Dixie Yooper]

If this horse was so great, have him stuffed like Trigger, The Greatest Horse of All Time.

[Kimmers]

This really is a great editorial thank you for the post.

[Graymatter]

Hey, I love horses too, but this editorial sounds like hash made from leftover Obama copy.
"But nearly everyone who met him also talked of the life he displayed, a vivid presence that was so much more visible to us because it happened to belong to a winner..."

[Columbine]

Thank you for posting this.

I'm sorry so many conservatives in this thread are so ugly in their minds and hearts.

[altura]

I wish he could have gotten well. I don't blame the family for trying so hard to save him.

Because we grew to love this horse does not mean that we consider it more important than children or anything else.

Why hijack this thread with whining?

[paltz]

more money was put into the rehab of the horse than into the rehab of teri schiavo.

[SueRae]

For once, the NYT wrote something worthwhile. New Bolton is about 10 miles from us. My daughter and I were there with other fans and well-wishers, leaving tributes at the gate back in May. Gretchen Jackson loved this animal as much as any of us who have lost a pet. Dr. Richardson and his staff did wonders with this horse and I'm sure that lessons learned from caring for Barbaro will help veterinarians all over. My heart goes out to them for their caring and trying to save him. And my heart breaks at his loss.

[Cicero]

I'm sorry for the horse. I suspect the reason why some Freepers came in with slant remarks is because the grieving here is from the Editors of the New York Times.

I have memories of dogs who have died. I used to ride when I was younger, but I haven't ever had direct experience of putting down a horse.

Anyway, my sympathies run both ways. It's sad when a great horse suffers like that. And it's also sad that the Times cares more about animals than human beings.

[HairOfTheDog]

Ping!

I think the Barbaro story was touching because it was a horse story, as well as a human story. It was about the horse, and also his 'connections' to his people. These pictures grabbed my heart when it happened. The rest of the race didn't matter any more.

It made heros out of jockeys and veterinarians. It would be up to the people in Barbaro's life to fix this, and we really rooted for them. In the movie, they would have won. We wanted them to win, it wasn't that any of them lacked heart. They all had it: The horse, the jockey, the owner, and the veterinarian. And that's why I cared.

[Teacher317]

What made him so "precious and wonderful" compared to other horses? Did anyone here spend time with him and get to know him? Maybe he was a jerk! ;^)

[cowboyway]

The last paragraph in the editorial is pure, bleeding heart, liberal, save the whales, city slicker, nauseous drivel:

You would have to look a long, long time to find a dishonest or cruel horse. And the odds are that if you did find one, it was made cruel or dishonest by the company it kept with humans. It is no exaggeration to say that nearly every horse — Barbaro included — is pure of heart. Some are faster, some slower. Some wind up in the winner’s circle. But they should all evoke in us the generosity of conscience — a human quality, after all — that was expended in the effort to save this one horse.

Barf.........