Barbaro's Turn For the Worse

             

I've lived in Northern Kentucky for 7 1/2 years now....with my Anniversary coming in 4 days.  And one thing I've picked up since I moved here is that people up here love their horses.  I have several friends who are really involved in horse racing in one aspect or another.

Which is what makes the Barbaro situation a bit sadder for me.

Barbaro....who won the Kentucky Derby just two months ago...has developed a severe case of laminitis, a potentially fatal disease brought on by uneven weight distribution in the limbs.  Now his vet is not giving good odds that Barbaro will survive.   His cheif surgeon, who's been dealing with Barbaro since he shredded up his leg during the Preakness, is saying that his chances of survival are very poor.

As of now, the horse seems to be okay enough that they are still working on saving him.  But, if it looks like he won't get better....he could be put down at any time...as early as sometime today. 

The surgeon said the laminitis nearly has destroyed the Barbaro's hoof on his uninjured left hind leg. Laminitis, a painful condition, developed in the past few days. The disease turned more serious in the past day.  He also said Barbaro's injured right hind leg [the one that shattered at the start of the Preakness] is healing well, but because a horse has to be evenly balanced, laminitis set in on the other foot.

They removed a large portion of his foot wall...and he's in a foot cast with foam padding and antiseptic dressing. They are going to see if they can regrow his hoof which will take several months.

What makes this most sad is that it seemed that Barbaro was well on his way to a full recovery.  After several days of touch and go information which could've have meant Barbaro's euthanization at any time....it was terrific news that he was doing very, very well.  He had a titanium plate insterted and 27 screws into three broken bones....and has other surgeries in the past few weeks.

The only good news in this is that Barbaro, again, seems to be okay as far as not suffering at all.  And that there is a track record of several horses beating this and making a full recovery. 

Get well soon, Barbaro.