Barbaro's death

Did they put him down, or did he just die? Last night on the news they said he wasn't doing well...

 

He was put down today. Infections were causing too much pain and they did not want to put him through more.

I have extremely mixed feelings about all this. We have four rescue horses, which a number of others would not even try to keep alive. So yes, we have spent the money for special diets, dental work, and such. But we know we will not take extraordinary measures. Or spend extraordinary money. The amount of money spent on Barbaro would have taken care of an awful lot of people.

I know that's the racing world, and I know they are, in that upper echelon, dripping with money.

Barbaro was a magnificent animal -- there is no doubt about it. But I used to help raise thoroughbreds (broodmare stuff) and I know that 1) racing them at two years old is almost criminal, as their bones are not really ready, and 2) they are bred to have those long, slender legs and enormous strides, and that can promote the missteps which lead to the leg injuries.

Why did they try to do so much medically when the vet, last July or August, gave him a very slim chance only when the first laminitis developed? It would have been for the sake of the owners -- maybe their emotions, maybe a desire to make money off stud fees, whatever. But it was definitely not for the horse himself. If you look at the pictures of him in the body sling, it is hard not to feel very sorry for him.

There is a time to say goodbye. That is part of owning an animal. It's hard, but it's also necessary. We had to have Missy put down a year ago when her arthritis was making it almost too difficult to walk in from the pasture for her evening meal. Our wonderful old dog, Sam, had to go about 18 months ago when, at about fourteen, his arthritis was making movement hard and he started spitting up blood. On the table, there is about five seconds between the IV chemical and the heart stopping. In that five seconds, Sam lifted his head and licked my nose, and then put his head down.

I cry everytime. A piece of me goes. I love my animals.

But there is a time.

Barbaro's owners should have recognized that some time ago and saved their animal so much hardship.

But yes, he was a magnificent horse.

 

I lived in and around Louisville for about 9 years and even though i never went to the track, i developed a slight interest in watching the races on TV...which is hard not to do when you hear about the Derby for 4-5 months out of the year.
Barbaro was an incredible race horse and it would have been interesting to see how far he could have gone if he were not interested.

As for him being put down, it broke my heart to hear that since i have worked with horses in the past when i was a camp staffer. Apparently they went above and beyond what could have been done, even with little hope.

 

I've always thought, without a shred of proof btw, so take this for what it's worth, that the owners were in a sort of no-win proposition with Barbaro. I think the general public was very caught up in whether he survived the injury or not, and to put him down without making an attempt would have subjected them to a PR beating. Or, and more likely, the owners put so much into him, money and resources, that they didn't want to just give up on him without an attempt at saving him and putting him out to be a stud. Dunno. Best guess.

 

I think the main interest in saving him was for stud fees. As I understand it, that is the major money maker in good race horses.

While it is sad to see an animal die, (I am glad my dog died naturally because I could have never put her in the care for that last ride to the vet), it is only an animal. I was amazed at how much press it got. What is happening in the news cycle when this is "Breaking News" on the news network? It was a sick horse, not a human; and it had on international or national significance.

I don't mean to sound coldhearted, but I was simply amazed at the press coverage.

 

Reading this article
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/31/pysk.richardson/index.html

I realized that, money matters aside, there was a lot of vetrinary learning experience going on as well.

Part of it may well have had to do with the horse's personality, too. Some individual animals are simply more lovable than others. Evidently he was a horse that was very easy to love.