Tragedy at Pimlico

“Barbaro broke his ankle during the Preakness today. That poor horse. I read that it is broken above and below the ankle. Very hard for a horse to recover from that.”

“Holy crap, one of my kids was going to be there!!

At least it wasn't a riot or something!!”

“"It's a serious fracture. This will require pretty major surgery. ... Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer," he said. "His career is over. This is very life threatening. Under the best circumstances, we will try to save him as a stallion."


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/more/05/20/preakness.ap/index.html?cnn=yes”

“I suppose doin' mares beats the hell out of becoming dog food.”

“dang.. that sucks.”

“If he makes it MarkO. It is really tough for a horse with a broken leg. They're not into bed rest or crutches.

I remember Ruffian's accident. Very sad.
"On the fateful day of Ruffian's match race with another legend, Foolish Pleasure, the racing community and fans alike were full of sadness as Ruffian broke down during the race. The match race was one of the biggest races dubbing Boy against Girl porportions and attracting fans who had never watched a horse race."
last edited: 5/20/06 8:55:33 PM”

“Who won the race?”

“Berna-something”

“Bernardini won. That was awful, you knew something was seriously wrong right away, and when they showed it in slo-mo.... ewwww. How sad.”

“The great match race was set, it was to be Ruffian against the Derby winner of 1975, Foolish Pleasure. Both horses broke cleanly, with Foolish Pleasure a step in front, but it was only a matter of seconds before they were going head to head. Ruffian stuck her nose in front, the opening quarter was run in 22 1/5. At this time Ruffian started pulling away from Foolish Pleasure, first a head, then a neck, then by half a length. Suddenly, the jockeys heard a snapping sound. Then Foolish Pleasure was in front by a length, two, three.... the announcer called out with disbelief, "Ruffian has broken down!" but the great filly kept running. She ground her leg into the track but there was no stopping her. By the time she was pulled up, her hoof dangled uselessly and it was all anyone could do to get her off the track.

They operated on Ruffian all through the night but to no avail, she began running and ripped the cast off upon coming out of the anesthesia, causing further damage to her leg. The men and the vets around her had tried to perform a miracle surgery and it had only furthered her agony. Shortly after 2 am, Ruffian was put down, and she was free to run once more. She was buried around 9 pm that evening at belmont park, with her nose pointed towards the finish line. Hundreds showed up to pay their respects to the legendary filly. She had galloped into the hearts of people across the nation in only two short seasons and she would never be forgotten.

http://www.tbgreats.com/ruffian/bio.html”

“Ouch!!

I'll never forget seeing Lawrence "Coke Machine" Taylor break Joe Theisman's leg on Monday Night Football.

I was watching when Bo Jackson broke his hip while sprinting down the sideline for a touchdown.......end of carreer.”

“sorry to spoil the romance but those horses are run when they are very young and not fit enough and MOST of them break down as low level horses who end up as dinner.
I worked at keenland race track for long enough to develop a major dislike for racing.
IMHO racing is cruel..”

“Yes, I know. And I agree with you daydreamer. I am also against rodeo.”

“The horse racing "industry" has been crying poor mouth here in Maryland.

They want slot machines so they can compete with Delaware and West Virginia tracks and the state gets to pick up the pieces for related social wreckage.

I don't know anyone who patronizes horse racing and though it was once the most popular of spectator sports, it ain't anymore.

The fact is that recreational horse sports are by far the largest part of the "industry".

If horse racing can't make it without subsidy, tough.”

“Wow, I don't remember ever seeing anything q”

“Computer weirded out on me...

I don't remember ever seeing anything quite like that. That's really sad. Poor thing.”

“I suppose doin' mares beats the hell out of becoming dog food.�
MarkO
8:14:28 PM
5/20/06


hate to burst your bubble but the only thing in pink he will see is in a dixi cup.

they rather be safe and him be sorry LMAO...”

“So, you're saying they're gonna jerk this poor bastard around??”

“well yes and then give him a carrot to munch on”

“Isn't it past your bedtime?

I walk home in five minutes.

I do hope the ghoulies don't get me!~!”

“mmmmm, glue!”

“Surgery is set for today. The surgery while being a challenge, the bigger challenge is him coming out of the anesthetic and the recovery after that that is a huge challenge for him recovering.”

“Horse progressing after 5-hour surgery, even showing interest in mares

Richardson, who operated on Barbaro at the University of Pennsylvania�s New Bolton Center for Large Animals on Sunday, said the horse�s chances for survival were still 50-50. He said Barbaro was showing positive signs and �acting much more like a 3-year-old colt should act...�

�Realistically, it�s going to be months before we know if he�s going to make it,� Richardson told CBS� �The Early Show.� �We�re salvaging him as a breeding animal.�”

“"We�re salvaging him as a breeding animal.�

...that seems a little disrespectful”

“Coincidentally, we rented and watched the movie "Dreamer" last night. It features Dakota Fanning, Kurt Russell, Elizabeth Shue, and Kris Kristofferson. Good family flick....”

“I may have to take a horse to New Bolton next week.
Maybe I can sneak a look at Barbaro...”

“Speaking of the stud service action, lol, I once did a story on turkeys used for breeding stock for your Thanksgiving day meal. LOL, you can only imagine hearing about how they get turkey semen. Doesn't have that perhaps romantic, stallion thing in any way, shape or form. How would you like that to be your job?”

“Sounds like a job for that guy on Dirty Jobs. Although he did do a show on sexing chicks, YUCK!!!”

“I'm thinking how that occupation would have played on the old TV show, "What's My Line."

Panelist question: "What exactly is it that you do with turkeys?"”

“Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs did do a show where he checked the pregnancy status of cows (won't go into details), and towards the end of that show they "milked" a bull for his vital stuff. Mike was thrilled.”

“HA HA HA, sorry I missed that one. He is SO FUNNY, I love his sense of humor. How'd they show that on TV??”

“... says Steven Crist, publisher of the Daily Racing Form. "They are not particularly well-constructed animals. If you designed a horse [for durability] you'd give him a smaller body and thicker legs like a Clydesdale." Of course, not many people would pay to watch Clydesdales race. On average, Crist says, a horse breaks down on the track 1.5 times for every 1,000 starts, a statistic that has remained fairly constant for decades. If airplanes crashed at the same rate, no one would ever fly.”

“wow, thats suprising!

how's the horse doing?”

“He's doing great so far...The most important factor in his recovery will be keeping him comfortable on the injured leg. His first week passed uneventfully, but, as Richardson warned reporters, "bad things can happen any time with horses with these kinds of injuries; good things take a long time to happen." It will be several months before anyone can pronounce him out of danger.


Hey Mapes this is for you...The Jockey Club, the official Thoroughbred breed registry for North America, keeps the game interesting by requiring horses to mate the way they did it on Noah's Ark. Otherwise, a single stallion could father every horse in the country by artificial insemination”

“...on Noah's ark????? You mean they require you to:
1. Lease a boat big enough to hold a couple 'mating' horses
2. Get the horses on board
3. Call the media, and a rep from the Jockey Club for verification of 'aquamating'
4. Take pics for the album
5. Make sure you have 'Horsey Lifejackets'
last edited: 5/28/06 7:09:34 AM”

“Horse semen now available by mail order:

http://www.bohlmanquarterhorses.com/shippingprocedure.html

Pay-pal is accepted.”

“KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. - Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro has developed a severe case of laminitis, a potentially fatal disease brought on by uneven weight distribution in the limbs, and his veterinarian called his chances of survival �a long shot.�
Dean Richardson, the chief surgeon who has been treating Barbaro since the colt suffered catastrophic injuries in the Preakness on May 20, said the Derby winner�s chances of survival are poor.

�I�d be lying if I said anything other than poor,� Richardson said Thursday at a news conference at the University of Pennsylvania�s New Bolton Center. �As long as the horse is not suffering, we�re going to continue to try (to save him).”

“The Pimlico neighborhood in Baltimore is a tragedy.”

“they need him healthy enough to be a "standing stud". His sperm is worth alot less if they use it for artificial insemination. Any colts from a.s. would not be thouroughbred(sp)”

“could not be registered with the jockey club.

They're still thoroughbreds. But OPIE is right. Worth a LOT less. Let's hope they can keep him on those back feet (and laminitis can definitely be crippling). But I'm sure he holds a special place in the hearts of his owners.”

“Dhutch, they've already cut away 75% of the hoof, it ain't lookin' good.”

“Is there such a thing as an equine prosthetic hoof?”

“I don't know. Probably not or the vet would have said something in his press conference today.”

“From what I've read, the hoof will grow back, just like a toenail would. But right now that's the least of Barbaro's problems.”

“Well I hear he is doing much better today, but he could still take a turn for the worse and be gone within 24 hours. There was a note in a news article that Secretariat had to be put down because of laminitis.”

“Woodzie that would be under normal circumstances, but he has laminitis.

Laminitis is a very painful condition of the foot. Basically it is a failure of the attachment of the pedal bone and the inner hoof wall. The pedal bone is attached to the hoof wall by two interlocking layers of laminae (strong connecting tissues) and when these tissues for whatever reason get inflamed or the blood supply is disturbed the attachment between the laminae fail. This results in a tearing of the pedal bone away from the hoof wall and due to the strong pull of the deep digital flexor tendon a consequent rotation of the pedal bone within the hoof.
It is a huge problem because he is unable to distribute his weight in his hind quarters equally between his back feet and with the hoof problem on his other back leg, even more devastating. I wish him well.
last edited: 7/14/06 8:23:20 PM”

“i say they amputate and fix his back hips into a wheel harness...this horse owes alot of pple money off of lost bets..and you know his owners are just trying to keep him going for his nuts

and his hangy down thing would still work (see other thread)”

“KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. - He’s looking good, feeling good and eating well these days, yet Barbaro is still a long way from leaving the hospital...

Richardson said the catastrophic injuries to Barbaro’s right hind leg were nearly healed, but it could take six months to as long as a year for the 3-year-old colt to grow back the 80 percent of his left hind hoof that was removed to combat the laminitis.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a minimum of six more months before he has a hoof that might hold up to being out on his own,” Richardson said. “It could take a year.”

While Barbaro will remain at the center that is part of the University of Pennsylvania for many more months, the cast on his right hind leg could be replaced by a splint within two weeks. It would be the next step on Barbaro’s road to recovery...

“Basically, he’s really not doing anything wrong the last couple of weeks, but there’s still a long way to go.””

“I'd wondered how he was doing. He seems to have pretty much dropped out of the news lately.”