Barbaro, RIP

[alonewiththemoon]

Barbaro was euthanized this morning.  It wasn't the originally injured leg that was the issue, it was the hoof that had developed laminitis, and after extensive surgery on Saturday it was concluded that there was no way he could go on living without considerable pain.  I'd provide a link to the Bloodhorse's coverage but I can't get into the site right now.  Sports Illustrated has a short story, but it's accompanied by a photo of Barbaro at the time of his injury and it's just too sad to see.

I don't know whether it was the right thing or not to have tried to keep him going in the first place (though I hoped for his complete recovery as much as anyone), but I hope if nothing else, lessons have been learned from the experience that will help other injured racehorses.   A horse is a complicated creature; it is almost as though nature has decreed that if a horse can't use all four legs, then the horse is done living, because what a horse does is run.

Comments

:(

[sanguineempathy.livejournal.com]

Sad, very sad.

[bluemoonsaga.livejournal.com]

very sad. i thought by the way the dr. was talking friday this would happen. i've been a horse racing fan for years i think it was cruel to drag it out but i think they were afraid of bad press. bb

[alonewiththemoon]

I think everyone involved just got swept up in the optimism of it all, and the hope that if they threw enough money at the problem it could be fixed.

[saturniidae.livejournal.com]

I don't know much about horses, but it seems like considering the amount of money he earned for his owners, they owed it to him to at least try something. However, I think it was pretty clear a long time ago that it didn't work, and they should have let him go.

[alonewiththemoon]

It apparently was a sudden setback--it wasn't the laminitis hoof but the originally injured leg that went on Saturday. I think everybody was very optimistic right up until last Friday about his chances for a pretty normal, healthy life.

The owners said even if he were a gelding and breeding wasn't even in the cards, they still would have done all this for him. I believe them.