Since this seemed to annoy a few people, I deleted it.
I doubt that you can even eliminate all risk and the injury Barbaro sustained was a freak one that just cannot be controlled by the track or rider. Agreed that racing can adopt more safety procedures - Keeneland has for example adopted padded rails and is giving up a dirt track for a polytrack this fall.
What I take issue with is any suggestion that goes to the heart of racing is some underlying suggestion that horses should not be raced which is incorrect and opens the door to a slippery slope of debate.
There has to be sadly a basic understanding that horses will be lost, no matter reduced the numbers are there will be at least one. Beyond that there should be a goal that riders are as safe as they can be, the track is as well prepared as it can be, and anyone injured - man or beast - can be treated with enough skill and humanity if injury occurs.
I think unless you have been in this situation (which I have not), it is hard to understand what the Jacksons are going through. Personally, I do not fault them for doing the surgery and trying to save Barbaro. So far, he seems to be coping well and therefore it does not seem cruel to me to try to save him.
However, if they had decided to euthanize him, I also would not have faulted that decision.
It is their decision to make and I trust that they are not going to put their financial gains before the best interest of Barbaro.
Hopefully they will just ignore any bad mouthing by the press and not let it bother them. I’m sure they feel in their hearts that they are doing the right thing.
Oh for god’s sakes. Another horse earlier in the day broke the gate (not gait) open. Not a big deal. Doesn’t often happen but it does occasssionally. The gate has sensors (tied to weight-force) that spring the single door open if a horse pushes hard against it. I heard a ‘noise’ then B broke out. Bet the horse heard it too and thought ‘time to go.’ The fact that the gate opened is a GOOD thing, not bad. Imagine his poor smooshed nose if it didn’t open fairly easily.
A good novel, gate tampering, but not something that happens in the 21st century. Perhaps a late 1800s thing, though they didn’t use mechanical gates then.
This was discussed on another thread. The gates are held together by powerful magnets in the interest of the horse and jockey. If the horse was totally locked in a steel box with required release by a lever the consequences could far worse if they couldn’t break lose. Think of crossties that should be breakaway.
As for other horses breaking through prematurely - yes it happens. I cited a mare sprinter who did the same thing the day before in a turf race on ESPN. She popped through and then had to be reloaded.
When Tom Durkin (the racer caller for tv; not the same for the Preakness attendees) made the comment how it didn’t bode well for Barbaro it truly didn’t on a mental level. The same is true for a track sprinter with a false start - it drains that initial burst of energy and puts some doubt into what should be done after reloading. Exceptionally few horses after popping out prematurely in the gate go on to win.
As for the ‘controversy’ of whether Barbaro should have been euthanized: It was, as I understand it, a horrific set of fractures that surgeons have never repaired all at once, because usually a horse with that much of a mess is euthanized on the course. There is nothing wrong with trying to save Barbaro for stud if it can be done. Is it cruel to try to save him? That’s a question we all have to ask ourselves from time to time, isn’t it- do you put a horse through colic surgery for example, which still only has a 50/50 survival rate at best? We do, a lot, because of the hope that the horse has a chance. Same with Barbaro, I can bet his connections will not let him suffer and will put him down if things go south (assuming of course that’s ok with the insurance company!).
Bad press- I don’t think so but rather frank speculation. There is a level of controversary surrounding the whole incident. I mean the injury is very complicated and the average horse would have been put down and I think everyone can agree to that. With Barbaro going through the surgery- limits of science were pushed so that may benefit future horses. At the same token- I don’t think anyone would fault the owners in the least if they put him down.
Track safety- I definetly think there is room for improvement on race tracks- as with any sport. But it’s a balance between cost and ‘value’. Improving surfaces to reduce injury is a great start. I can see the hesitation to implement it- from tradition, training, to cost of the industry to bear.
The average person desn’t need to know about the little details that make up horse racing. However I do agree with the comments that the industry hasn’t dealt with PR all that well in the past. Yes- horses breakdown (my sister’s horse is stall bound 6-8 months for a fracture from yahooing in the paddock) but the average person does’t know this. Instead of claiming “it’s the nature of the business” they should focus on pointing to the changes made in the past and changes to look for in the future and say “We doing the best we can to make the sport as safe as our technology can support”.
Breaking through the gate… I’d rather see them break through the gate then not break through and flip over and under it!
You know, I think Barbaro is using his OWN money to pay for his surgery. After all he has already earned a great deal of money. And if he does recover he will certainly earn enough in stud fees to pay for his retirement. The time for euthanasia is when the horse gives up and doesn’t want to live and it certainly sounds as though Barbaro is still fighting.
I agree with the above post. If I were in the owners’ place, I certainly would try to save him. Veterinary medicine, just like human medicine, has made great progress and certainly it is worth a shot at saving a horse with this type of breeding value.
I’m sure we’ll see all kinds of silly comments as this story plays out. Remember, most people are not horse people, so you’ll see some very silly stories in the news.
On the insurance – I am not surprised if he was insured. While his owners may be wealthy, they were horse people and aware that racing has its dangers.
Bing bing bing, we have a winner. I pay about as much attention to NASCAR racing as the average person pays to TB racing, possibly even less as I have never tuned into the Daytona 500. But after Earnhardt’s death, I damn sure knew that there had been a safety argument brewing around NASCAR for a good number of years. Yes it’s beyond lousy a tragedy has to unfold to get the necessary attention (and funding), but this phenomenon is neither new or notable. Airport security pre 9/11, anyone? Be they small or epic tragedies, they do force introspection in a most painful manner.
Glimmer, good point about who can be saved. Not everyone who owns a horse - racing or otherwise - can afford to invest the lifetime of special care that comes with an injury like this, never mind the cost of surgery/rehab. If any regular joe owner had showed up on this board with a horse who had a similar injury in his paddock, and elected to put him down, they would get overwhelming support. If that horse had been a stallion or a broodmare and they tried to save it for breeding puposes, again with the overwhelming support. But because it’s a race owner and the fact that it may or may not be insured/have a future as a breeding animal, things change? Color me confused…
In California there has been a big push to revamp the racing surfaces, with one of the options being Polytrack, as well as other artificial composites, such as that used by Michael Dickenson at Tapeta. There is concern about posible breathing problems arising from horses and riders breathing in the “kickback” and a surface cannot prevent all accidents, but if Barbaro’s horrific breakdown is to have a silver lining, it might be to spur action from track managent to make changes.
With regards to the cost, consider the number of young racehorses who break down in training and the huge financial loss to the owners that represents. A racetrack needs owners to underwrite the horses that races there. Owners and trainers acting together can form a powerful lobby.
Therefore, an investment in improved track surfaces could well be a necessary long-term investment.
One of the obstacles, as told to me by a veterinary surgeon, is a resistance to change in the racing industry. He pioneered arthroscopic surgery in race horses, and was accused of “doing the devil’s work” by at least one trainer.
Glimmerglass, I think we are on the same page. You can make things “safer”. You can’t make them completely safe. No matter how much we learn and try to make things better, life is dangerous (albeit that some activities have higher risk than others.)
Racing cars is dangerous… have we seen the last driver death, I certainly don’t think so, but if it happens once every 10 years rather than once a year, then things are better.
Will we ever see horse racing such than no horse or jockey was harmed in the racing of the race? Probaby not, just continue to learn how to make things safer and safer to minimize death and injury.
I think even that is an admirable goal… continue to try to make progress.
Even if Barbaro doesn’t make it but adds to knowlege, either safety-wise or related to the surgery and recovery, then the effort is not in vain.
Barbaro is not unusual
Statistically, 40% of the 3 year olds who go to the track are destroyed by the end of May because of career-ending injuries. Yes, 40%.
Most injuries are not so severe or dramatic as those suffered by Barbero, but there are few practical options for what to do with a 3 year old colt/mare if they are not already extremely successful, or are not well bred. For a 3 year old gelding with a career ending injury, there are few options.
Although Barbero’s injury was gruesome and life-threatening, this is not uncommon. In this instance, it was a high visibility injury with much media attention, and with a premier colt who has affluent owners who may be able to afford the surgery and care needed to rehabilitate the horse, if that’s possible.
I’m not going to enter the fray about whether we should be racing 3 year old TBs, and whether the injuries are due to physical immaturity, but the waste rate is, unfortunately, a reality of this industry.
OK yes, point taken, but my question - b/c I don’t follow racing to any vast degree other than to see what Avery’s relatives are up to - is, IS there in fact anything that coulda/shoulda been done differently? IS there genuinely an issue with the footing, the gate, the way the false start was handled, or was it just one of those things?? I tend toward the latter opinion but will be glad to hear from experts in this regard…
I can see both sides here. I don’t think there’s any question that money does enter into the picture as to why Barbaro’s principals are going the extra mile for him. However, I’m not one of those who thinks this is necessarily a bad thing. As others have pointed out, every surgery of this magnitude that gets performed is going to help other horses further on down the line, and, God willing, may preserve a great bloodline and save the life of a great-hearted horse who doesn’t seem to be showing any signs yet of wanting to shuffle off this mortal coil. If anything, quite honestly I’m a bit envious of Barbaro that he HAS been lucky enough to be given this chance. I wish all good horses could be. I mean, I’d have gladly paid any amount of money to help my guy out if I could; meanwhile, 2 more died at Potomac this weekend, and while it sounds like one died in the air, could the other have been saved if the financial resources had been similar? Who knows…
As to whether it’s cruel to keep Barbaro alive or not - for me personally it comes down ALWAYS to what the horse is telling you. Right now Barbaro seems from all reports to be interested in life and willing to play along, so long as he has food, chicks to flirt with, and a human or two to take a chunk out of; very Avery-like, as it happens. 
If it gets to the point where he is no longer like that, then I’m not going to cast any blame on his principals if they opt to euthanize. What WOULD suck is if they were to keep him alive for financial reasons when he’s clearly no longer having a good time. Luckily they don’t strike me as the sort of folks who would do that.
But we shall see.
Jingles continue.
Where did that statistic come from, LH?
Where’d you get that number, LH - 40%???
Can you provide a source for this?
Also I would assume the use of the term “destroyed” isn’t what you mean it to be. Rather they may be retired/rotated off the track due to injury but you don’t mean to infer they break down in such numbers and are euthanized.
Citations, please.
War Admiral, I don’t think anyone can truly say whether Barbaro’s injury was a result of footing or not. But when you look at the larger pictures and the studies relating to fatigue and how the track “bounces back” upon impact as well as how the base angle handles the turns (does the foot meet it squarely or does it meet it an an angle), there are definitely improvements to be made. But the issue of how the track transmits force through the leg is real.
In a highly oversimplified explanation from a person who really tried to forget most the physics she learned, if the track is just right, the energy transmitted to the track from the foot is returned back to the foot. If the track is too deep or soft, the horse leaves “energy” in the track since it cannot be returned before the foot leaves. On too hard of a track, the energy is returned possibly even twice (like vibrations) before the foot leaves. Both excess or dissipated energy leads to bone fatigue, which leads to a greater risk of breaking down, because bad steps are generally taken by fatigued horses.
LOL, he last 5 posts have been summarized in short as
"Dear LH,
We would like to save you from being an internet statistic yourself…
Sincerely,
The World"
