VirginiaBred, continued thanks for your updates. Continuing prayers and jingles for Bobby and thrilled to see his progress.
The family and team around Lost In The Fog are in my prayers. This has to be so heart-wrenching to see this fabulous horse and not be able to do anything but keep him comfortable. My heart breaks for them and this spectacular horse. I only hope that when his time comes, it is as quiet and peaceful as my mare’s.
100 Pages
[B]Holy Crap, Team Barbaro!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
We’ve Hit 100 Pages.
THAT’S CAUSE WE BELIEVE!!! :yes:
[/B]
Not related to Barbaro per se, but it was still a fun day at NBC:
Barbaro surgeon’s newest patient? A polar bear
Although nobody was too keen on my idea to keep him around as Barbaro’s new playmate! Can’t imagine why! :lol: And the press had a field day with it as well… apparently NBC is the Philadelphia news stations’ hot new hang out, whether it’s Barbaro related or not. Never thought I’d see that day!
Not related to Barbaro per se, but it was still a fun day at NBC:
Barbaro surgeon’s newest patient? A polar bear
Although nobody was too keen on my idea to keep him around as Barbaro’s new playmate! Can’t imagine why! :lol: And the press had a field day with it as well… apparently NBC is the Philadelphia news stations’ hot new hang out, whether it’s Barbaro related or not. Never thought I’d see that day! And I’m surprised Tim Wooley wasn’t all over this story, hehe.
Not related to Barbaro per se, but it was still a fun day at NBC:
Barbaro surgeon’s newest patient? A polar bear
Although nobody was too keen on my idea to keep him around as Barbaro’s new playmate! Can’t imagine why! :lol: And the press had a field day with it as well… apparently NBC is the Philadelphia news stations’ hot new hang out, whether it’s Barbaro related or not. Never thought I’d see that day! And I’m surprised Tim Woolley wasn’t all over this story, hehe.
Go Bobby Go! You better believe we believe!!:sadsmile:
2,000 posts!
:yes: :yes: :yes: :yes:
Darn Tootin! And we’re almost to 2,000 posts!!!:eek: :eek: :eek:
It was reported on earlier in today’s posts, see update 498…
(caught you not reading, Texarkana! 
)
[B]Thanks, Alex:
Update 501[/B]: The Bearbaro report from New Bolton: Polar bear’s broken leg repaired at Penn’s Widener Hospital
Dr. Dean Richardson, Chief of Surgery at Penn’s George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals, today operated on Alcor, a 750-pound polar bear from the Erie Zoo. Dr. Richardson is the surgeon treating Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro; he was assisted in today’s surgery by Dr. James Orsini, Dr. Jessica Dahlberg and Dr. Liberty Getman.
“It was an extremely difficult surgery,” said Dr. Richardson. “The ulna was broken just above the carpus (the wrist) and we were able to repair it satisfactorily with two Synthes locking compression plates. However, the radius was shattered in too many pieces to allow accurate reconstruction, so we used a single plate to partially stabilize it.”
Alcor’s broken bones were just above his right paw; zoo officials do not know how he broke his leg, but they suspect he did it while playing with his brother Mizar, another 7-year-old bear who has been at the zoo with Alcor since 2001.
“His prognosis is guarded,” said Dr. Richardson. “He is a very large animal and it will be impossible to fully protect the area post-operatively. He will have to take good care of himself.”
Update 500: Another comfortable day for Barbaro today. I just spoke to Kathy Anderson, who was just leaving New Bolton Center (5:45 pm). She was with Michael Matz as Michael was grazing Barbaro. All is well.
Kathy then provided a quick “Bearbaro” report (she said it not me). Apparently there are plenty of media trucks at New Bolton following this story. Kathy saw Alcor being lifted back into his refrigerated truck, post surgery, I guess going elsewhere for recovery.
Wow, update 500, who knew!
Hmmm, I guess the poem threw me off! :lol:
Not to worry, it’s a great story!!!
Welcome to the TEAM!!!
I gotta post on page 100. Woo woo, go Barabaro AND Bearbaro (let’s be generous to all four footeds)-
course, VB, you would have to post the poems to Lost in the Fog, which got me bawling all over again.
Anyhoo, jingling away for the B’s!!!
Thanks, Alex~
Update 502: Polar Bear Has Surgery in Chester County is a nice article that combines Alcor, Bobby and our friends from Kennett Florist.
Kennett Florist had this short report today (timestamp 8:31pm):
Lots of activity at NBC today. The press is even back in town… everyone’s excited about the polar bear being there!
We put on our caterer’s hat again today, but for the first time, it was lunch. We delivered pizzas, salads and soda for all the very hungry staff. They were all very excited and send their thanks to all who contributed. The pizzas were gone in minutes! We had a special side of carrots and treats for our boy, because he should be pampered as well. Thanks to everyone, lunch was a lot of fun, and very much appreciated!
WE BELIEVE!!
Dave Letell reported on Bobby’s last work for the Kentucky Derby (timestamo 8:23 pm):
Why Barbaro is a “Superhorse” and how he crushed the best field in the “Derby” in the last thirty-five years.
Barbaro had an unconventional breeze at Churchill-fast and a very long stride (over 25 feet). His internal speed figures were super, best of the week. Barbaro never really quickened–he simply extended his long stride down the stretch and showed complete superiority. He had a stride length of 24 feet going into the first turn, on the backstretch and on the far turn. He maintained the same basic speed for each quarter to the end–but when he hit the stretch, he extended his stride length to 24.9 feet. Thus, he covered the last quarter in fewer strides than he took for each previous quarter. For another horse to beat him that horse would have to have been on even terms at the quarter pole and had a stride length of a minimum of 25 feet down the stretch. And that would have been a real stretch.
I remember Peter Brette describing this breeze, basically saying it seemed he took four strides down the lane.
With Costly Care, Barbaro’s Long Odds Improve
By JOE DRAPE Published: August 21, 2006
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa., Aug. 17 — Barbaro was reclined on his side in a stall. His left hind foot curled out beneath him, revealing a fitting that his surgeon called a foam-lined rubber sneaker. His right hind leg, the one that has been in a cast for 90 days, was hidden beneath a carpet of knee-deep straw.
Barbaro wears a bandage around his neck to protect a catheter, and his left hip has a few white splotches, healing blisters from a combination of his sweat and the antiseptics used in his initial operation. When he awakened from a serene slumber, however, his eyes burned as bright as a Kentucky Derby champion’s. After all, he is a Derby champion.
Barbaro’s owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, notice that look in his eyes, as does his trainer, Michael Matz, and the medical staff at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals. It is why they have never left this horse for dead.
They refused to do so when Barbaro took a catastrophic misstep and shattered his right hind leg in the opening yards of the Preakness Stakes on May 20. They forged on in early July when the colt developed severe laminitis, a painful and often-fatal condition that afflicts horses that bear excessive weight on a limb.
Instead, they have combined aggressive medical treatment with tender loving care in one of the most extraordinary efforts ever mounted to save a top-flight racehorse. Gretchen Jackson comes here twice a day with fresh grass clippings to feed Barbaro. Mr. Matz also arrives daily to change the leg bandages on the best horse that he has ever trained. Barbaro is also fed the carrots and apples that continue to arrive here from the public. He has been doused with holy water sent by well-wishers.
This holistic and community approach seems to be working, not to mention the untold tens of thousands of dollars in medical care.
The sling Barbaro once needed to keep weight off his legs now hangs in storage in another stall, and the epidurals he required for pain have not been necessary for weeks. Best of all, for almost two weeks, Barbaro has been walked outside for 20 or 30 minutes a day in a field, where he grazes on grass and looks every bit like a normal horse.
“He’s been very, very good on his legs,” said Dr. Dean Richardson, his surgeon and the man who leads him outside each day. “It’s exciting. He’s improving.”
Dr. Richardson warned that Barbaro was hardly out of the woods and that a full recovery would not be evident for months. Still, he said he was encouraged by the progress.
On July 13, Dr. Richardson had to compose himself when he announced that laminitis had ravaged Barbaro’s left hind hoof wall and that the chances of survival were poor. Now, his hoof wall is growing back, and his fractured right hind leg appears to be mending, Dr. Richardson said. But he cautioned that until the cast was removed, he could not be certain the leg would be strong enough to bear Barbaro’s weight.
“I think he’s got a 50-50 shot,” said Dr. Richardson, echoing the prognosis he gave May 21, after performing an operation on the colt’s leg for more than five hours. “He’s back to that level. Now, if you would have asked me the same question six weeks ago, I would have told you they were a lot — a lot — less than that.”
Luck, too, will continue to play a part in Barbaro’s convalescence. Gretchen Jackson said good fortune was with them even on May 20, when the colt hobbled to a stop at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
“When the accident happened right there on the track, Michael Matz and the track veterinarians told us that Barbaro had to go the New Bolton Center and Dean Richardson,” she said. “They knew Dean was a magician putting horses back together, and fortunately, we were just an hour of so away.”
The New Bolton Center is part of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Jacksons have long been among its benefactors; Gretchen Jackson is on the board of the veterinary school.
The Jacksons have been involved in thoroughbred racing for nearly 30 years and have a reputation for going to great lengths for their injured horses. Roy Jackson, whose grandfather William Rockefeller was once the president of Standard Oil, and his wife, Gretchen, have spared no expense when it comes to Barbaro’s recovery.
The Jacksons had long known of Dr. Richardson’s reputation, but in the days since the Preakness, they have come to admire the skill and dedication of his team. Beyond the complicated operation he performed to put back together a leg shattered in more than 20 pieces, Dr. Richardson oversaw a pain-management and after-care program that kept Barbaro comfortable and progressing smoothly for seven weeks.
“I’ve never in my life used more pain medication on a horse,” Dr. Richardson said. “It meant that he needed around-the-clock nursing care to keep everything hooked up and clean and to make sure he was all right. He was rarely alone.”
When the laminitis appeared, however, the Jacksons faced a wrenching decision: whether to end Barbaro’s life. Dr. Richardson met here at the hospital with the couple and Mr. Matz and explained that the colt had severe laminitis, which he described as “exquisitely painful.”
“Most owners would have called it a day,” Dr. Richardson said.
But nobody — not the Jacksons, not Dr. Richardson, not Mr. Matz — saw any signs of suffering from Barbaro. They agreed to remove 80 percent of the ruined hoof wall and to give the colt some more time.
“We agreed that the moment the colt was in pain, the veterinarians would put him down,” Gretchen Jackson said.
Not only has Barbaro not shown signs of distress, he appears to be growing stronger each day. The foam sneaker is changed daily as the veterinarians continue to watch for the regrowth of his hoof wall.
“I go over there with the grass because I love him and want to break up his day,” Gretchen Jackson said. “Now that he is getting outside, he is an even happier horse.”
Barbaro, who faces long odds of ever becoming a lucrative stallion, appears to be a healthier horse, too. He receives only antibiotics and a mild analgesic, the equivalent of aspirin for a horse. He is eating well and maintaining his muscle tone. The more uneventful days that pass, the better off he will be.
No one close to Barbaro is predicting a full recovery, but they remain optimistic and seem grateful for each good day. By the cards and gifts that continue to arrive, they know that Barbaro has touched people far beyond them.
“Everyone who cares about this horse is doing their best,” Mr. Matz said, “and, hopefully, we can pull Barbaro through.”
Number 2000
Post number 2,000 on page 100! What a milestone. And this is the day that Dean Richardson has, once again, taken even odds on Bobby’s survival. This horse is a winner–do not waste your money betting against him!
www.espn.co
Barbaro stepped outside his ICU stall and started daily walks on a grassy area near the unit last week for the first time since having catastrophic injuries in the Preakness nearly three months ago. The Kentucky Derby winner, also recovering from a severe case of laminitis on his left hoof, continues to show signs he's on the road to recovery.
"It's a big step just to know he feels good enough that you can take him out of the stall and walk him around like a normal horse and he eats grass like a normal horse," Dean Richardson, chief surgeon at the New Bolton Center, said Monday. "That doesn't mean he's healed. It just means things are going well right now."
The 3-year-old had made only a couple of brief walks back and forth from his stall to the surgery room at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center until last week. Now Barbaro is walked daily for about 15 to 20 minutes in a secluded area not far from the George D. Widener Hospital ICU.
[IMG]http://espn-att.starwave.com/photo/2006/0814/horse_a_barbaro_195.jpg)
AP Photo/University of Pennsylvania, Sabina Louise Pierce, HO
Barbaro enjoys some tasty grass with Dr. Dean Richardson at his side in this photo taken Friday, Aug. 11.
"I thought he was thrilled the first time he went out," Richardson said in a telephone interview from New Bolton. "He just seemed very happy to be out. You can tell he's looking forward to it every day. It's absolutely normal. Horses love to be outside, obviously, and he's pretty excited about it."
Barbaro is shown on video released by the University of Pennsylvania grazing on grass, with Richardson walking him around.
Barbaro has a cast on his right hind leg that encloses the foot and extends up to just below the hock. There's a bandage on the laminitis-stricken left hind foot, and support wraps on Barbaro's front legs.
The colt's comfort level has taken a surprising turn since Richardson said in early July the prognosis for a full recovery was "poor."
"I think we're lucky his tissues are fairly healthy," Richardson said. "I don't know why he's more comfortable than some horses with the same condition."
Barbaro had the cast on his injured right hind leg changed last Tuesday and Richardson said it might not need to be changed for about another three weeks. The left hoof, which needs to completely regrow if the colt is to have any shot of walking, remains the biggest concern.
"He's got to get this left hind foot to the point where it's a solid structure that can sustain long-term weight bearing," Richardson said. "Could there still be some major things resulting in him having to be put down? Yeah. He's absolutely not out of the woods yet."
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
Hehe, thanks, but I’ve been here the whole time. I just post rather infrequently since I don’t want to lose my job. (I’ve even had to change my SN since the Big Man has come along…)
Keep up the good work!
RIP BEARbaro…
Poor Alcor died in transport.
Tuesday morning:
Update 504: Another comfortable night for Barbaro last night (monday night). Got the news coming back from my third set as I saw Michael Matz who had just heard from Dr. Richardson. Another beautiful morning here in Fair Hill.
updated tuesday 7:10am
Update 503: I am afraid Alcor did not recover from surgery: Polar bear operated on by Barbaro doctor dies. Discussed here.
This weeks racing focus will switch to the Travers, which will be part of a two hour broadcast on ESPN, from 5 - 7 pm on saturday. The Travers is restricted to three year olds (like the triple crown), and unlike the Pacific Classic which was for older horses. The favorite will likely be Bernadini, the easy winner of the Jim Dandy. he is trained by Tom Albatrani who provided us a nice interview on Barbaro. Bluegrass Cat (comfortable winner of the Haskell) will probably be second choice. I will try to get more insight into this race over the next few days.
Poor Alcor !
Off to light more candles for Bobby and Foggy!
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