Going mad! Can anyone update on Barbaro and his condition PLEASE?

This is SO horrible!!! And of course, faux news, at my work, just HAD to keep playing that accident over and over and over..........grrrrrrrrrrrr like ONCE isn't enough to see that.............just turned my stomach, and I've got a pretty strong stomach....I worked at a racing horse breeding farm outta high school...and saw too much wrong being done to these animals...but that is another story.....just hope he survives.....

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I support our troops, I love my country, but fear my government.....

Ive worked on a track before, and to my knowledge, live cover is not a requirement. I know for a fact there are thoroughbred sperm banks....
maybe its ok in other sporting events with thoroughbreds... and not racing. I'm not sure.
but when a horse is worth a pile of money, the real events on who bred who how and where are very easy to fudge on paper.

Ive seen horses snap both front legs and die on the track screaming. this horse was lucky it was a back leg.

Ive even seen 3 legged horses with one hind leg....
as "happy" as a stud gets I dont think a stiff leg would stop em from breeding.

and no I dont like racetracks anymore.
I saw one slip on asphalt and fall in a drain ditch, bouce its head off the blacktop and fracture its skull a half dozen times while it screamed and thrashed to get up.

took 10 min to get a vet to kill it... thats a long time to thrash and scream.

yeap racetracks are for a special breed of savage human to enjoy....

so true.

That is so true. It is really sad. :-(
And yes, thoroughbreds do require live cover. Standardbreds can be AI'ed, but not t-breds.

There was a news conference this morning with the vets and Barbaro's owners. He is doing quite well, so far. The vet said this morning he saw him lift his left hind (the good one) to scratch at his left ear, which means he can stand comfortably on the casted leg. He also took a "swing" at the vet with that same left hind leg. This is definitely a good thing, it shows that he is not over-stressing the left leg to compensate for the injured one. It also sounds as if he is not in a lot of pain. He said they have an "army" of volunteers who are spending time picking grass and bringing it in for Barbaro to eat.
He also made a point of saying that these owners would have tried to save this horse even if he was a gelding, they truly love this animal and want the best for him. As far as I can find out, he is solely owned by the Jacksons, he had not been syndicated as of yet, so they make all decisions and bear all the costs of this. They seem like good people, Mr. Jackson spent his press time thanking everyone from the jockey on down who contributed to helping to save their horse.

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[COLOR="Blue"]Expect Little - That way you will be seldom disappointed.../COLOR]

So glad to hear he's doing well.

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This is only my 2 measly cents, I suppose my opinion won't be a popular one here but if the owners "loved him so much" they should maybe have just put him down. He's a TB after all; how much is he going to enjoy that life now? I'm wondering if maybe they're thinking of how much $$$ they can make off him with stud fees if he makes it.

You would think this type of injury would maybe get people to thinking that horses are starting out racing way too young. Perhaps that is part of the problem? I find it hard to understand how racehorses are considered to be "used up" when they are only 5 or 6 years old? Pretty sad. I don't see anyone griping about that, though.

So either the injury is due to a horse being raced too young or maybe he has a genetic fault (ie, a glitch in his conformation)---in which case, why breed him?

DD

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"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap."