Rambling thoughts on Barbaro…
When the accident first happened, I was horrified. When I saw the pins on the x-rays, I was absolutely astounded. I really thought this horse was going to make it and live a good life until the latest round of set backs, when I think we all knew it was very unlikely he could recover.
I don’t think he thought he lived a horrible existence for the last 8 months. Like so many Thoroughbreds do, he rolled with the punches. His connections & caretakers were and are an absolute class act in dealing with him. This all happened for a reason and this horse left a legacy like few others… perhaps more so than a Triple Crown Winner.
The awareness he brought to the industry and to Thoroughbreds in general will be long lasting. The ripple effect will be nothing but positive, I think.
Each year on Kentucky Derby Day, we have a fundraiser at the track. On Kentucky Derby Day 2005, during the first race at Fairmount Park, a horse broke down horribly in the stretch - a VERY ugly breakdown. We had our table set up in the usual place, just a few dozen yards from where the breakdown happened. The usual rubbernecking of the crowd, normal reactions to this type of thing at the track - it was very sad. But of the hundreds of people who visited our table that day, not one person mentioned it.
At our Labor Day Fundraiser this past fall, table in the same place - another horse fell. This one simply collapsed, a horse called Real Note had a “heart attack” in almost exactly the same spot. No less than a dozen people came up to our table in the next few hours and put a donation in the jar - not buying a t-shirt or trinket - saying “This is for Real Note.” Several others came just to ask if we knew what happened to the horse, would he be okay, etc. It even made the local paper - that NEVER happens, “Horse Collapses At Fairmount Park” read the headline.
Our organization was recently touched by Barbaro in a ‘6 Degrees of Separation’ manner. A tough old 11 year old “warrior” in our care, Time to Time, had life-saving surgery largely funded by folks who had come together because of Barbaro (not to slight others who contributed as well!). He deserved it, and earned it, but we just couldn’t do it for him and had no hope to begin with after the diagnosis - those gathered around Barbaro never doubted it, and helped make it happen. He was sent the Barbaro Beanies mentioned above, the donor asking that we save one aside for his stall.
Look at all of the tracks examining surfaces, changing over to synthetic - perhaps not directly because of Barbaro - but??? The awareness raised, the timing, etc., I just don’t think it’s a coincidence. How many horses will be saved because of this, even though Barbaro didn’t make it? Not to mention the veterinary treatments that may be improved in the future, learned directly from him or gained through the donations to New Bolton’s Barbaro Fund.
Perhaps racing did and still does need a Triple Crown Winner to survive, but I think, perhaps, it needed Barbaro as well.
What a grand colt…
