RIGHT TO DIE?

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Laminitis is a very difficult illness - (also known as 'founder'). The foot becomes inflamed and because of the hard hoof wall, the inflammation has no place to swell so it starts to press on the bones of the foot causing them to rotate out of position so that they start to point down through the bottom of the foot. It is an extremely painful condition for the horse. To remove 80% of the wall of the hoof indicates that the laminitis was very severe. My mare foundered as an allergic reaction to a toxin in the field. The treatment for a horse that does not have other complications such as plated multiple fractures is a long, slow and unpredictable course. Fractures in horse's legs are notoriously difficult to treat because there is not a lot of blood circulation through the area so healing is very slow. A horse is not able to lie down for any length of time due to the pressure of body weight on the heart and lungs; a horse must be supported in a sling which brings with it its own problems. Laminitis treatment mainly consists of trying to reduce the inflammation before the damage is irrevocable. My mare was fortunate, she survived with minimal rotation of the main hoof bone (coffin bone). Barbaro and his owners gave it a gallant try but they made the right decision. If he had pulled through, he would never be physically sound again but he could have been bred gently or used for artificial insemination. He may yet still have offspring, although they wouldn't be able to race they can be used for other types of competition (hunting, jumping, dressage, etc).

Of greater concern is the main cause of his initial injury - racing horses as 3 year olds - they are still babies. A horse doesn't stop growing until 5, but in North America we subject 2 and 3 year olds to the tremendous shock of galloping on a hard race course, placing unbelievable stress on still growing, fragile legs and feet. Many, many thoroughbreds never get the chance Barbaro did because they break down in less spectacular and public ways and are destroyed, or go on to live lives that are frought with physical challenges caused by their early racing careers. Interestingly, I believe in the UK that thoroughbreds are not allowed to race competitively until they are 5 years old. (Probably more than you ever wanted to know about laminitis and racing. . . )

Edited January 30, 2007 by Kathryn41

[derekkj 0]

I saw a news report on CNN and they didn't go into detail, but stated several times that the horse was so ill he no longer seemed interested in the filleys. The only reason I could imagine the owners would want to keep an ailing horse alive was for breeding purposes...and if the horse was to ill to be able to do that there was no reason to keep him around. They gave it a good try though, but the injuries were too severe.

I don't think they put Barbaro down because he couldn't breed! I think they did it for humane reasons. I'm sure they could have gotten him to breed if that's what they really wanted. They've probably got tons of his ####### stored already anyway.

I completely agree that the Jackson's put Barbaro down because it was the best thing for him, not because he was unable to breed. All you have to do is watch Mrs. Jackson during the press conference yesterday and know how much she cared for him. The same can be said for his trainer, Michael Matz, and his doctor. Unfortunately, I doubt that they got any, um, samples. He was only 3 and obviously still racing when he was injured, so before when he normally would have been sent to stud. And during the past 8 months, I doubt he was much in the mood to put out.

I wonder how much they are chargin for his "swimmers" ....

A peculiar quirk of the thoroughbred racing industry is that the stallion has to do all the work himself. No artificial insemination allowed. That's why there was so much interest in how the right hind leg was healing. He would have had to support himself on it during breeding. So even if they were able to get some swimmers, there will be no little Barbaro's in the Kentucky Derby four years from now.

By the way, more than a few stallions have proven shy in the breeding shed. Just ask poor War Emblem who won the Derby in 2002 and is currently standing stud in Japan. He has had such a poor showing that the Japanese are considering sending him back to the States.

[derekkj 0]

Of greater concern is the main cause of his initial injury - racing horses as 3 year olds - they are still babies. A horse doesn't stop growing until 5, but in North America we subject 2 and 3 year olds to the tremendous shock of galloping on a hard race course, placing unbelievable stress on still growing, fragile legs and feet. Many, many thoroughbreds never get the chance Barbaro did because they break down in less spectacular and public ways and are destroyed, or go on to live lives that are frought with physical challenges caused by their early racing careers. Interestingly, I believe in the UK that thoroughbreds are not allowed to race competitively until they are 5 years old. (Probably more than you ever wanted to know about laminitis and racing. . . )

Good post, Kathryn! I agree that running the Derby in May can prove too much to ask of many youngsters. My bigger concern is that American racing tends to value speed above endurance and as a consequence the breeders may be contributing to the problem by breeding horses that have inherently weaker legs and are more susceptible to breaking down. In the olden days of yore, horses were raced far more often, but had longer careers and broke down less.

[Yodrak 7]

brnidokiegurl,

I think we treat the other animals more humanely than we treat human beings.

Yodrak

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was euthanized Monday, co-owner Roy Jackson said. Which we know from threads yesterday or so. My newspaper took a poll and ask for responses:

SHould Barbaro have been euthanized sooner?

Some responses were for earlier, some said no give him more chance, some said he was just a horse why spend thousands

So what do you think?

[brnidokiegurl 0]

Maybe some animals deserve to be treated better than SOME people

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

Maybe some animals deserve to be treated better than SOME people

[brnidokiegurl 0]

Thank ya, Thank ya, Thank ya, Charles you silly guy, you must know some of the same people i do

[Aymerlu 3]

With the horse having Laminitis I really think the right decision was made. So much had been done to this point to help him. Just think if this had happened 10 years ago....they would have put him down right there on the track.