http://www.drf.com/news/trainer-says...-was-suffering
He does know you can give a horse more drugs, right? If this guy thinks he's a good guy for what he did and why he did it, I'm just not seeing the evidence for that. Saving a horse and rehabbing them costs a lot of money. Putting that much into Monzante and then he might get an infection and die anyway causing you to lose what you put in is a risk you take. You can balance that with the chance of success from a person who's going to give it to you straight, not that Thacker really did that. He's not a doctor, he's not the one who should be judging the horse's medical condition. Of course he's in pain, he's got broken bones. Bones can heal.
That private vet is gonna do what he tells'em regarding saving or not saving a horse with a sesamoid injury even if they would've tried it were it their horse. It doesn't seem like a medical opinion was even what swung it. He's not saying 'we asked the vet and they really thought the odds were poor.' He went with his gut emotion (he claims) and his wife using google. We're only hearing his side on the horses that starved. No telling what that was really about. Feels weird that someone could send you malnourished horses and the situation isn't dealt with before some drop dead. If nothing else, cover your butt and report the other person.