Barbaro's Leg
 

Didn't know if anyone saw this link... http://www.vet.upenn.edu/newsandeven...ure%201092.jpg

wow, that was the first picture I saw without the cast. Amazing.

How did he look walking? Good, I hope...

Will be able to breed?
 

Now that he has survived I wonder what the chances are he will make it to the breading shed. I'm a horse player not a trainer, vet, or owner so I've never been that close to horses, but will be able to stand the strain?

All in all, an amazing animal!

I originally saw this photo on the DelMar message board and most of the folks on that site were of the opinion that they should have just put him down because of how bad both he and the leg looked... I strongly and completely disagree. I really believe that if the leg was not going to be functional, Dr. Richardson wouldn't be as optimistic.

Talk is cheap. That msg board means nothing.

Something tells me the other hoof will take longer to heal than the fracture.

the spyder--yeah, he can breed. they have many different contraptions they can use to support him while he's 'doing the deed'. my first suggestion in that regard would be no maiden mares. he's not as nimble as he should be obviously, and he doens't need a shy female giving him a difficult time.

the laminitis is definitely still an issue. his hoof will neve be normal again. but it's acute laminitis, so hopefully it won't recur. keep in mind that the blue hen mare toussaud suffers from chronic laminitis. in her case, and in many others, it's kept under control as much as it can be. still very much an almost unknown illness regarding prevention and cure. so many different things can cause laminits-of course in barbaros case we know it was uneven weight distribution, which affected blood supply to that hoof--it essentially died....

as for him being put down because he isn't the graceful creature he once was, that's so dammed asinine.....he will walk with a gimp, as there is no flexibility in his fetlock. think how you would walk if you could never flex your ankle again. it's the same thing. might not be pretty, but i'll take him limping around over the alternative ANY DAY. it doesn't have to be gorgeous to work. he's alive, he's as healthy as he can be at this point. anything else is just gravy.

that's the first replay i've seen of the preakness. i don't consider myself to be a very emotional person, but that video immediately brought tears to my eyes. he was such a special racehorse, and he's that much more spectacular as a horse, and as a model of a true fighter.