I wanted to start a new thread regarding his recovery. News updates and other insider information should be posted here.
We all did such a great job jingling him through his massive surgery ordeal, let’s please keep that up through his recovery. 
Loved the story on Good Morning America this morning. Very positive about him. :yes:
[B]After Successful Surgery, Barbaro’s Chances Remain ‘Coin Toss’
[/B]By Ron Mitchell and Ray Paulick
Veterinary surgeon Dean Richardson and trainer Michael Matz flashed smiles during a press briefing that followed afternoon-long surgery Sunday to repair the right hind ankle of classic winner Barbaro that was severely injured one day earlier in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) at Pimlico. Barbaro was standing and eating in a recovery stall following the surgery at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa. While the surgery to repair the damaged area and fuse the ankle was considered a success, Richardson cautioned that, because of numerous complications during recovery, Barbaro still has a long road to go for survival. “To be brutally honest, there’s still enough chance for things going bad he’s still a coin toss probably,” Richardson said, "even after everything went well (during surgery).
Richardson, who led the surgical team, said the son of Dynaformer was in surgery for about seven hours. He said one reason the procedure took so long was the amount of time to prepare the colt for surgery and the recovery time to allow the anesthesia to wear off.
Richardson said a procedure to fuse the fetlock joint – the ankle – was successful. A device called a locking compression plate, or LCP, was employed to stabilize the injured area, with 23 screws used on the 16-hole plate. A cast was then fitted on the leg, enclosing the hoof and running up to just below the hock.
“He got up from anesthesia without any injuries,” Richardson said of Roy and Gretchen Jackson’s colt, winner of the May 6 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). “The most important thing to emphasize is that this is just the absolute first step in any kind of case like this. Getting the horse up is a big step, but it is not the last step by any means.”
He said horses with injuries such as Barbaro’s are "susceptible to other problems, including infection at the site because of the severity of injury and the amount of metal put in the leg to fix it and that horses are very vulnerable to laminitis or problems in the opposite foot. These are all major concerns we have. At this moment, he is very comfortable in his leg. He practically jogged back to his stall. He pulled us back to his stall. Right now, he is very happy. He is eating. Things right now are good, but I’ve been doing this too long to know that day one is not the end of things."Richardson said one of his major concerns - that the blood flow in the areas of the injury had been cut off - was quickly dismissed when the doctors determined “he had good pulses in his feet, good warm periphery. When we did the procedure, he had good blood supply throughout.”
“I feel much more relieved after I saw him walk to the stall than when I was loading him into the ambulance to come up here,” he added. "That’s for darn sure. It was an unknown area that we were going in. I feel much more confident now. At least I feel he has a chance. Last night, I didn’t know what was going to go on.“A sling and monorail system were used to lift and transport Barbaro before, during, and after the surgery. When the procedures were completed, he was lowered by the sling into a recovery pool.
The horse is lifted up in the sling he’s been wearing the whole time, and put into a giant rubber raft that has legs in it,” said Richardson, who noted the device is similar to a Zodiac raft except that it has four legs underneath that descend into the water. "The horse is in the raft, its leg are immersed down in the water, but it’s staying dry because it’s inside this raft. The horse then wakes completely up from anesthesia. The idea is that, if it struggles, it can’t hurt itself because it is struggling against the resistance of the water (kept at about 97 degrees)."When he was ready to be taken out of the recovery pool, Barbaro was blindfolded, lifted out with the sling, and moved to another stall.Barbaro will remain at the New Bolton Center for “several weeks at the very least,” Richardson said. "It’s a long rehab."After that, if things go well, Barbaro would begin a very gradual return to exercise, beginning with closely controlled walking. “Even if everything went perfectly,” he said, "that will be many months from now."Unbeaten and a serious contender for the Triple Crown, Barbaro broke down only a few hundred yards into the 1 3/16-mile Preakness. With his right leg flaring out grotesquely, the record crowd of 118,402 watched in shock as Barbaro veered sideways. Jockey Edgar Prado pulled the powerful colt to a halt, jumped off, and awaited medical assistance.
Barbaro was fitted with a stabilizing splint by the attending veterinarian, Dr. Nicholas Meittinis, and taken to the center, known as the University of Pennsylvania’s George D. Widener Hospital New Bolton Center. Barbara Dallap, a clinician at the center, was present when Barbaro arrived Saturday night.
“When we unloaded him, he was placed in intensive care, and we stabilized him overnight,” Dallap said. “He was very brave and well behaved under the situation and was comfortable overnight.”
From: The Bloodhorse.com
I got to thinking about Barbaro last night and wondering what his quality of life wil be once he clears all of these hurdles. Initially, I thought they were saving him for breeding purposes, which would make sense. But can he breed a mare with these multiple injuries? Will his leg ever be able to hold his weight up in that situation? And what about turnout? You always see the TB stallions running and bucking…couldn’t one bad step destroy everything?
I’m not asking these questions to be a pessimist, I want him to recover…and I’m sure doctors would not have operated if these things weren’t possible. But I am asking for any of you who have had experience with fractures worse than a sesamoid.
As always, big jingles to the champion!!! And a big thanks to the team at New Bolton.
Well, live cover of Tbs is not exactly ‘natural’, there are so many people present to ‘help’ the process.
Im assuming that Barbaro will wear some special kind of cast for all breeding duties, etc etc.
And either the bones will fuse or they will not.
I think way too early to even begin to discuss whether it wd have been better to just euthanize him.
How can one euthanize a creature with the courage and intelligence to figure out how to minimize the damage --,after his partner manages to stop his mad rush to oblivion – and who then ‘helps’ the process to possible recovery?
Thanks VB for starting this thread. Way to early like Canyonoak said to even theorize about his breeding services. Only hope he comes thru the recovery process with flying colors.
If its anything like people, it will take a long long time to heal. Once it fuses, the leg can actually be much stronger than before. Postivie thoughts, prayers and jingles for Barbaro.
“I got to thinking about Barbaro last night and wondering what his quality of life wil be once he clears all of these hurdles. Initially, I thought they were saving him for breeding purposes, which would make sense. But can he breed a mare with these multiple injuries? Will his leg ever be able to hold his weight up in that situation? And what about turnout? You always see the TB stallions running and bucking…couldn’t one bad step destroy everything?”
No. It’s a bone to bone fusion. A healed broken bone is stronger in the place of the break because of the callous formation, and his ankle will essentially be a giant callous. Once it heals, he will be able to run, buck, and play. I can think of one prominent sporthorse breeding stallion with a fused ankle that was still ridden lightly. I would not think any kind of brace or support would be necessary for him to cover a mare - again, it’s a solid piece of bone that after healing will probably stronger than it was before the injury from a biophysics standpoint.
You both are right, it is too early. I’m just so concerned for him. I hope this is a story book ending for the ages. I also hope that Barbaro paves the way for major advancements in equine medicine. A champion of champions.
Barbara Recovery
bump
I’ve not had a horse injured but we experienced this when my son shattered his collarbone, and amazingly enough it is true. The bone was broken in about 5 places and some parts were a good 1/2 inch + away from the part it was supposed to join. The orthopedic doctor told me that essentially a ‘ball of bone’ would form and it would all become one piece again. Sure enough, he has a permanant lump there but that collarbone probably has three times as much bone structure and strength now as the uninjured one. When I saw the original xrays of my kid I had a hard time believing that could happen, but it did.
I’m sure Barbaro’s young age and fitness level will be to his advantage in the healing process, and am praying that it all turns out well.
stupid curiosity question
The plate they used had to be custom made right? Looking at it hard to think of it as a stock item. How did they know what shape to use length etc. Was it made before the surgery or during. Just curious but would be interesting to know. Can’t be too flexible or manuable or it wouldn’t work. But hard to believe it was forged in 18 hours.
Anyone know how they make those things?
There was some mention somewhere of fabricating the plate during the surgery, which is one reason it did take so long.
I am confused by this recovery pool - how can you dunk a casted leg with sutures into water?
another stupid question
I’m assuming that the plate will stay in his ankle once it’s healed, just to make it stronger. But does anyone know if the screws will be removed? I know it’s not the same thing, but my friend broke her ankle and had to have screws in it, and the screws had to be removed once it healed. Just wondering.
He doesn’t go directly into the water.
Read the article - he got lowered into a raft that has legs in it. So he’s in the raft, and the raft is in the water, he doesn’t get wet.
Here’s a pic of him being lifted out:
http://www.vet.upenn.edu/newsandevents/news/Barbaro/BARBARO1_lg.jpg
Anyone remember Hoist the Flag?
Way back in 1971 Hoist the Flag was the overwhelming favorite for the Kentucy Derby and the Triple Crown. I have some racing friends who swear he was the best horse they’ve ever seen. He was a gorgeous horse won by huge margins with absolute ease. Unfortunately, he broke a hind leg in the month before the Derby.
His situation was similar to Barbaro’s – innovative surgery followed by extensive lay-up, during which HTF nearly died from infection. He recovered remarkably well and went on to become a successful sire. This, of course, was 35 years ago.
Let’s hope Barbaro has an easier reovery than HTF and equally good results.
It was just heartbreaking to see this happen. The emotions that the owners and Michael Matz are going through right now are heartwrenching. But on a hopefull note, as CuriousJorge stated the bone actually heals stronger than it was originaly.
My horse fractured a bone in his hock in turnout. Thankfully he was a very good patient and took to stall rest like a champion. Just standing like a perfect gentleman so as not to hurt or reinjure himself.
He actually came back to full work after a year, and went on to a successful show career in the adult amateur hunters.
As lifted from the Tim Woolley Blog:
Edit 7: Dr. Richardson visited Barbaro at 5:30 am. He is hosting a press conference at 8 am. Seemingly all is well so far. He is comfortable, is eating well and did well through the night. One thing not picked up by the press yesterday, Barbaro literally dragged his handlers back to the stall after surgery yesterday. If attitude and disposition have anything to do with it … All at Fair Hill are in a very sombre mood. We are hoping, keeping our fingers crossed etc. Keep the comments coming, I will make sure they get to Barbaro’s team. (7:50 am)
Edit 6: The surgery has been considered a success, as reported in the Bloodhorse. The surgery is clearly the first step in a long road ahead for Barbaro, but it is great to hear that this first step has been successful. It appears that Dr. Richardson is more favourable about Barbaro’s chances of recovery than was first thought (from reading the article, not from any other source). Dr. Richardson is quoted:
I feel much more relieved after I saw him walk to the stall than when I was loading him into the ambulance to come up here," he added. "That’s for darn sure. It was an unknown area that we were going in. I feel much more confident now. At least I feel he has a chance. Last night, I didn’t know what was going to go on.
Will blog once at Fair Hill and having talked to the vets here.
BTW, apologies for the site crashing late last night. This site had about 6 visitors per day before Barbaro won the Kentucky Derby. Yesterday, during one hour, early evening, we had 3,000 visitors. We ran out of bandwidth apparently. This has been fixed!
I thought the “recovery” thread would be the appropriate one to talk about this:
My mare sent Barbaro a picture suitable for pinning up in his stall to keep his spirits up. It’s a photo I have of her grazing sexily, back when she was a hot little 3 yo TB filly. She signed it: “To Barbaro, Get well soon! XOXO, Paula’s First.”
:lol:
I also sent him a card myself. It’s an imprint from a horse shoe that once belonged to my Irish sport horse / TB cross Foofie, for good luck. Foofie had ankle troubles of his own, but had 28 wonderful years.
I sent them out at the crack of dawn this morning to New Bolton Center, fingers crossed that Barbaro will continue on the road to recovery…
That all depends the Navy tried to keep my plate in but the compression difference between the plate and the bone made it too painful so they removed it. My ankle however has about 9 screws in it.
Obviuosly it must be too racy (pardon the pun) to place here? 
awesome pun!!!
And yes, definitely not suitable for family viewing!
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