Barbaro Euthanized

Diamondback Jay

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KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) -- Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was euthanized Monday after complications from his gruesome breakdown at last year's Preakness, ending an eight-month ordeal that prompted an outpouring of support across the country.

"We just reached a point where it was going to be difficult for him to go on without pain," co-owner Roy Jackson said. "It was the right decision, it was the right thing to do. We said all along if there was a situation where it would become more difficult for him then it would be time."

A series of ailments, including laminitis in the left rear hoof and a recent abscess in the right rear hoof, proved too much for the gallant colt.

Barbaro battled in his ICU stall for eight months. The 4-year-old colt underwent several procedures and was fitted with fiberglass casts. He spent time in a sling to ease pressure on his legs, had pins inserted and was fitted at the end with an external brace. These were all extraordinary measures for a horse with such injuries.

Roy and Gretchen Jackson were with Barbaro on Monday morning, with the owners making the decision in consultation with chief surgeon Dr. Dean Richardson.

"I would say thank you for everything, and all your thoughts and prayers over the last eight months or so," Jackson said to Barbaro's fans.

On May 20, Barbaro was rushed to the New Bolton Center, about 30 miles from Philadelphia in Kennett Square, hours after shattering his right hind leg just a few strides into the Preakness Stakes. The bay colt underwent a five-hour operation that fused two joints, recovering from an injury most horses never survive. But Barbaro never regained his natural gait.

He suffered a significant setback over the weekend, and surgery was required to insert two steel pins in a bone -- one of three shattered in the Preakness but now healthy -- to eliminate all weight bearing on the ailing right rear foot.

The procedure Saturday was a risky one, because it transferred more weight to the leg while the foot rests on the ground bearing no weight.

The leg was on the mend until the abscess began causing discomfort last week. Until then, the major concern was Barbaro's left rear leg, which developed laminitis in July, and 80 percent of the hoof was removed.

Richardson said Monday morning that Barbaro did not have a good night.

Brilliant on the race track, Barbaro always will be remembered for his brave fight for survival.

The story of the beloved 4-year-old bay colt's fight for life captured the fancy of millions.

When Barbaro broke down, his right hind leg flared out awkwardly as jockey Edgar Prado jumped off and tried to steady the ailing horse. Race fans at Pimlico wept. Within 24 hours the entire nation seemed to be caught up in a "Barbaro watch," waiting for any news.

Well-wishers young and old showed up at the New Bolton Center with cards, flowers, gifts, goodies and even religious medals for the champ, and thousands of e-mails poured into the hospital's Web site just for him.

"I just can't explain why everyone is so caught up in this horse," Roy Jackson, who owned the colt with his wife, Gretchen, has said time and again. "Everything is so negative now in the world, people love animals and I think they just happen to latch onto him."

Devoted fans even wrote Christmas carols for him, sent a wreath made of baby organic carrots and gave him a Christmas stocking.

The biggest gift has been the $1.2 million raised since early June for the Barbaro Fund. The money is put toward needed equipment such as an operating room table, and a raft and sling for the same pool recovery Barbaro used after his surgeries.

The Jacksons spent tens of thousands of dollars hoping the best horse they ever owned would recover and be able to live a comfortable life on the farm -- whether he was able to breed or not.

The couple, who own about 70 racehorses, broodmares and yearlings, and operate the 190-acre Lael Farm, have been in the horse business for 30 years, and never had a horse like Barbaro.

As the days passed, it seemed Barbaro would get his happy ending. As late as December, with the broken bones in his right hind leg nearly healed and his laminitis under control, Barbaro was looking good and relishing daily walks outside his intensive care unit.

But after months of upbeat progress reports, including talk that he might be headed home soon, news came Jan. 10 of a serious setback because of the laminitis. Richardson had to remove damaged tissue from Barbaro's left hind hoof, and the colt was placed back in a protective sling.

On Jan. 13, another section of his left rear hoof was removed. After Barbaro developed a deep abscess in his right hind foot, surgery was performed Saturday to insert two steel pins in a bone.

This after Richardson warned last December that Barbaro's right hind leg was getting stronger and that the left hind foot was a "more formidable long-term challenge."

Even before the injury that ended his career, Barbaro had earned his fame for simply being a magnificent racehorse.

Foaled and raised at Sanborn Chase at Springmint Farm near Nicholasville, Ky., Barbaro always stood out in the crowd. "He was an enormous foal," recalled breeder Bill Sanborn. "He was a tall and leggy horse, and when he grew it was like in two-inch spurts."

When the Jacksons sent Barbaro to trainer Michael Matz over a year ago, exercise rider Peter Brette climbed aboard and said "I thought he was a 3-year-old."

A son of Dynaformer, out of the dam Le Ville Rouge, Barbaro started his career on the turf, but Matz knew he would have to try his versatile colt on the dirt. He reasoned that if he had a talented 3-year-old in America, he'd have to find out early if his horse was good enough for the Triple Crown races.

Barbaro was good enough, all right. He won his first three races on turf with authority, including the Laurel Futurity by eight lengths and the Tropical Park Derby by 3 3/4 lengths.

That's when Matz drew up an unconventional plan for a dirt campaign that spaced out Barbaro's race to keep him fit for the entire Triple Crown, a grueling ordeal of three races in five weeks at varying distances over different tracks.

Barbaro won the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 4, but his dirt debut was inconclusive since it came over a sloppy track. After an eight-week break, an unusually long time between races, Barbaro came back and won the Florida Derby by a half-length over Sharp Humor despite an outside No. 10 post.

The deal was sealed -- on to the Derby, but not without criticism that Barbaro couldn't win coming off a five-week layoff. After all, it had been 50 years since Needles won the Derby off a similar break. But Matz was unfazed, and stuck to his plan, saying all the time he was doing what was best for the horse.

Not only did Barbaro win the Derby, he demolished what was supposed to be one of the toughest fields in years. The 6 1/2 -length winning margin was the largest since 1946, when Assault won by eight lengths and went on to sweep the Triple Crown.

The 55-year-old Matz, meanwhile, was living a charmed life. Before turning to thoroughbreds eight years ago, he was an international show jumping star, and a three-time Olympian and silver medal winner who carried the U.S. flag at the closing ceremony at the 1996 Atlanta Games. He also survived a plane crash in Iowa in 1989 and became a hero by saving three children from the burning wreckage. The crash killed 112 of the 296 people on board United Flight 232.

In Barbaro, Matz truly believed he was training a Triple Crown winner. He often said Barbaro was good enough to be ranked among the greats and join Seattle Slew as the only unbeaten Triple Crown champions.

But two weeks later after the Derby Barbaro took a horrible misstep and one of the most extraordinary attempts to save a thoroughbred was under way. The injury was considered to be so disastrous that many thought the horse would be euthanized while still at Pimlico Race Track.

Instead, Barbaro was transported that night to the New Bolton Center's George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals and was operated on the next day by Richardson.

The injuries were as serious as everyone feared: Barbaro sustained a broken cannon bone above the ankle, a broken sesamoid bone behind the ankle and a broken long pastern bone below the ankle. The fetlock joint -- the ankle -- was dislocated. Richardson said the pastern bone was shattered in "20-plus pieces."

Barbaro, who earned $2,302,200 with his six wins in seven starts, endured the complicated five-hour surgery in which Richardson inserted a titanium plate and 27 screws into the broken bones. After calmly awakening from anesthesia, he "practically jogged back to his stall" looking for something to eat.

At the time, Richardson stressed Barbaro still had many hurdles to clear, and called chances for a full recovery a "coin toss."

Afterward, though, things went relatively smoothly. Each day brought more optimism: Barbaro was eyeing the mares, nickering, gobbling up his feed and trying to walk out of his stall. There was great hope Barbaro somehow would overcome the odds and live a life of leisure on the farm.

But by mid-July, Richardson's greatest fear became reality -- laminitis struck Barbaro's left hind leg and 80 percent of the hoof was removed. Richardson recalled recently what it was like when he met with the Jacksons, and Matz, and his wife, D.D., to deliver the news.

"It was terrible," Richardson said. "I wouldn't have blamed anyone at that point for saying they just couldn't face the prospects of going on."

But Barbaro responded well to treatment, and his recovery was progressing until a final, fatal turn.

Source-- ESPN.com
 

kps0001

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They should have put him down back in May.
 

Stout

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I hate to be the one to say it, but it's about time. It's a horse, not a presidential election. You would think by the coverage this got that it was some epic event. It's sad, and it was in a big event, but horses hurt themselves and have to be put down all the time. I'm just glad the media can finally euthanize this story.
 

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They should have put him down back in May.

I think that if you have the means and there is a chance that your animal will recover, then, sure, make a go of it. It's not like his prognosis was horrible all along. Plus, his owners and vets seemed to be in good communication.

As an animal lover, I find it a very hard decision of when to put your animal down. Barbaro's owners were given some hope. They went for it. The horse seemed to be doing well for a good while. What's so wrong with that?
 

Stout

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I think that if you have the means and there is a chance that your animal will recover, then, sure, make a go of it. It's not like his prognosis was horrible all along. Plus, his owners and vets seemed to be in good communication.

As an animal lover, I find it a very hard decision of when to put your animal down. Barbaro's owners were given some hope. They went for it. The horse seemed to be doing well for a good while. What's so wrong with that?

The fact that it was all about exploiting the animal for money. You know if there wasn't the opportunity for studding Barbaro, the owners never would have dished out the coin to keep him going.
 

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The fact that it was all about exploiting the animal for money. You know if there wasn't the opportunity for studding Barbaro, the owners never would have dished out the coin to keep him going.

With all due respect, Stout, no, I don't know that and, really, neither do you.
 

Scott MS

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Stout is right and why does this horse get more press than most athletes? Do people really care that much about this horse?

I guess in the end we have learned that this horse was essentially injured (and later killed) due to a human rider who's trying to win a horserace.
 

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Stout is right and why does this horse get more press than most athletes? Do people really care that much about this horse?

It was one of those feel-good stories, at least where I'm from. And, yes, people did care that much about the horse. What is so wrong with that?

I've read a lot about this horse and its owners (local stories, not just AP ones), and I really believe that they cared about this horse, not just about the money.

As far as Barbaro getting more press than most athletes, I think you are off base. I think if you did a content analysis of the major newspapers in the US over the past 8 months, you would find that major athletes received much more press than Barbaro. Did Barbaro receive a lot of press? Of course. People wanted to know how things were progressing.
 

Scott MS

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I've read a lot about this horse and its owners (local stories, not just AP ones), and I really believe that they cared about this horse, not just about the money.

If they cared THAT much about it, they wouldn't put a jockey on it and whip him to run faster. Horses in horse racing aren't pets. They are bred to race and there are risks and rewards.

I suppose it might be a feel good story, but there are lots of people who see horse breeders as animal abusers. It doesn't bother me, I'm not a horse or animal lover, but I laugh at the hypocrisy in the whole situation. In the end, these breeders are doing such a favor to this horse . . . that they put in a hazardous situation in the first place.

http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=65
 

Jersey Girl

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If they cared THAT much about it, they wouldn't put a jockey on it and whip him to run faster. Horses in horse racing aren't pets. They are bred to race and there are risks and rewards.

I suppose it might be a feel good story, but there are lots of people who see horse breeders as animal abusers. It doesn't bother me, I'm not a horse or animal lover, but I laugh at the hypocrisy in the whole situation. In the end, these breeders are doing such a favor to this horse . . . that they put in a hazardous situation in the first place.

http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=65

I never said that a race horse is a pet. And of course there are rewards and risks if you buy a horse and expect it to race. That doesn't mean it's simply an investment and you have zero feelings for the animal.

I'm not here to debate about the ethics of horse racing. I'm just saying that Barbaro's owners seemed to want to give the horse a fighting chance and it seemed, from what I've read, that they cared about the horse in a way that was more than dollars and cents.
 

Scott MS

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I never said that a race horse is a pet. And of course there are rewards and risks if you buy a horse and expect it to race. That doesn't mean it's simply an investment and you have zero feelings for the animal.

I'm not here to debate about the ethics of horse racing. I'm just saying that Barbaro's owners seemed to want to give the horse a fighting chance and it seemed, from what I've read, that they cared about the horse in a way that was more than dollars and cents.

No, you're right. I'm not trying to start a debate and the owners actually did do a LOT more for this horse than the many that are euthanized at the race track every year.

I just didn't understand the fascination with the horse, considering how his injuries were sustained. I simply find it hypocritcal, that's all. This horse was bred and raised and raced to make money, saving him was an afterthought.
 

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No, you're right. I'm not trying to start a debate and the owners actually did do a LOT more for this horse than the many that are euthanized at the race track every year.

I just didn't understand the fascination with the horse, considering how his injuries were sustained. I simply find it hypocritcal, that's all. This horse was bred and raised and raced to make money, saving him was an afterthought.

I think a lot of the fascination, at least regionally, comes from the fact that the Philly area hasn't had a champion in years and, recently, horses have been the city's best chance. Plus, there was the feel-good story with Smarty Jones outta the Philly area in 2004.

I can see your point, though. Not to get on a totally different topic, but I guess the same thing could be said for car racing. Yes, people put themselves into that position, but you never really think something bad is gonna happen.

It just sucks, I guess.
 

kps0001

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I think that if you have the means and there is a chance that your animal will recover, then, sure, make a go of it. It's not like his prognosis was horrible all along. Plus, his owners and vets seemed to be in good communication.

As an animal lover, I find it a very hard decision of when to put your animal down. Barbaro's owners were given some hope. They went for it. The horse seemed to be doing well for a good while. What's so wrong with that?

Unfortunately we have had to put down too many horses. My wife is a trainer and has shown horses since she was 6 years old. Her entire family does it. No it is not the same as horse racing but these horses are bred, trained, and sold just like all the other breeds and it is run like a business no matter how much you love the animal. Several were put down way before they had a chance to show everyone what they were capable of.

I am not sure to what extent you use the word "recover". These horses are bred to do one thing and this is run fast and win races to make money and a name so they can then sell the semen off to other breeders. It is an investment. When you are not getting a return on your investment you usually dump it or try ways to fix it. What would the quality of life been for this animal? This animal that was bred to do only one thing and now was unable to perform that task. From what I read and followed regarding the story his prognosis was never very good. I really don't know why this horse was strung along and put through all that he was for so long but I can speculate. We see so many horses with similar types of injuries euthanized on the track, not saying this should have been done in Barbaros case but all these people knew there was a snowball's chance in hell that this horse would ever recover.

They kept him alive to collect as much semen as they could from this animal I have no doubts about it. I bet they have an entire freezer loaded with it and with all this press coverage people are probably paying waaaaay too much for it. The horse world is a crazy one.
 

Scott MS

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You know, I figured they were probably pumping this horse for semen since he was injured. I didn't want to say it because I find it too funny.
 
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