Here’s the latest
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I followed along the whole way with Seven. It’s a tough story. In the beginning I think they thought he wouldn’t make it. Then they thought about pts, but just waited. He’s breathing/eating/existing so now making the call would be more difficult. I was shocked to see how small he is and what they expect him to top out at!
Now she’s saying you can’t pet a bull becaus le they are 2000 pounds?!?! My horse is 1750!
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Someone upthread mentioned Barbaro, but I want to talk about the good that came out of that case. Most of the current research on supporting limb laminitis, as well as classical laminitis, has come out of a fund established by the owners and donors to that fund. Dynamic shoes and slings come from that work, along with the current understanding of supporting limb laminitis as an ischemic event. Call it what you will, but the only way we will ever learn is to push the boundaries of medicine.
In vet med, we often have to see things suffer before they get better, and we do what we can to alleviate that suffering. But how many times do we have colitis cases that won’t eat for a week, or repeat colic surgeries where the horse stands with their head in the corner in pain for three weeks before finally recovering, going home, and living 15 more years happily? It happens every day. It happens on the other end of the spectrum too, with very old horses. I have been at the receiving end of putting my super senior through several surgeries recently for a septic joint. But the people saying those things don’t really know the case. They aren’t the vets involved. They don’t see the horse walk each day like I do, nor did they actually see the horse in surgery and recovery to know that she handled it better than most horses half her age. They don’t hear the vet saying, “If you don’t want to give up yet, then I absolutely wouldn’t.”
So while I agree that this is an extreme case, I don’t think it’s fair to judge people’s intent as malicious without all the details, especially that of the professionals surrounding the horse. As transparent as they are, I guarantee we aren’t seeing the total picture. I have been involved in cases where there is truly no hope, and once all the vets and techs realize that (and it usually doesn’t take very long), it’s not uncommon to tell owners that they either have to put the horse down or take the horse home. It appears this isn’t the case, so I have some trust that the vets surrounding this horse are acting in the best interest of both the horse and the client. And the client is also key here; at least 50% of veterinary medicine is listening to the needs of the client, and you don’t want to have a vet who doesn’t do that—they tend not to be very popular.
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Dean Richardson recently said with the knowledge and tools they have today Barbaro could be saved.
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I think that “Barbaro might have a better chance to be saved” would be a more accurate comment.
Many things still can and do go wrong with horses with hind limb fractures (or any fractures) even with the better repair techniques we have today. Laminitis in the non-injured limbs remains a big reason that many horses don’t make it.
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Just conveying what Dr. Richardson said.
A video of her turning out a buckskin horse came across my FB newsfeed today (I don’t follow her) and the horse just looks so lame in so many directions. Of course she will be used for breeding 
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And that was why, after 4 years of working for a vet and nearly 3.5 years into a pre-vet undergrad program, I withdrew the applications I had already submitted to vet schools and switched majors. Back in the 70’s it was much worse than today because we didn’t have many of the pharmaceuticals available now and had fewer options for pain management. It was simply more than I was equipped to handle.
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Wait, really? Hmm. That’s disappointing. It makes me suspicious of her as a breeder, once again. I do hope this colt will be gelded.
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You do realize that her farm has very rocky soil? Which certainly could be a problem for a barefoot horse who isn’t used to it. Also, that mare is 14 yo and was retired from a long show career. So, while she may not be sound enough for your internet eye, there may be other issues your internet eye couldn’t see.
Gah that looks awful! First time I have seen a video. One leg might be do-able but all four legs???
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I’m starting to just not like her🤣 She tried to cook today for a dove hunting party, complained the whole time, didn’t have the right ingredients, had at least 3 others helping her, then she walked away. She destroyed the recipes she tried to make. Apparently had her kitchen redone to a hideous green color.
Then, she says how Pico the baby donkey gets peed on, so she is dressed for this party and goes out to pet pee head.
It’s like everything she touches is half done!
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Ok…my bad. The kitchen is in their “shop”, you know with the frozen margarita machines, bar & big screen tv.
Dolly the coughing donkey & Pico went out again. I wouldn’t think they’d have the test results back yet.
The side profile of Seven standing at the 4:32 mark made me gasp. No way is that sustainable long term. Sounds like they are dancing a delicate dance between “weight gain good” and “too much weight gain”.
I’m glad he gets outside to feel sunshine on his body and nibble on grass.
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Screenshots of the parts that made my stomach turn, for those who can’t watch:
[graphic]
I loved this little blurb.
Don’t tell me this horse is happy. Don’t tell me this horse will thrive. Don’t tell me this horse isn’t in pain, and will have insane complications his entire life because of the selfishness of humans.
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I hadn’t clicked on the last 5 or so, I wanted to see for myself what the status was.
This is disgusting, and frankly if I were a vet I would be refusing to continue. I would not want my name or my clinic’s name anywhere near this. This is absolutely inhumane.
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From the interviews, the primary vet always seems fairly encouraging. When your vet is telling you “we can fix this” and you don’t have monetary constraints, it’s hard to pull the plug. No one goes into vet med to torture animals. I truly think this is a case of not seeing the forest for the trees.
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There is no fixing that. That horse will always live in some amount of daily pain, for the rest of his life.
Seven does not care about tomorrow. Only us humans do. Seven only knows right now, and there is no fixing this to the level that he will be adequately comfortable for the rest of his life. Seven is miserable. He’s been miserable his whole life. That “will to live” is hard wired. Maybe his will to live is for YOU and not for himself. Be kind, show mercy.
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