Monday, January 29, 2007

Finally, the Good Boy's gone

Latest word on the wires is that Barbaro, the colt who broke his ankle in the Preakness, has been put down. What a good boy he's been. Really. Heart of gold.

First he gets 23 screws put in his leg, then after developing laminitis, the surgeons remove about 80% of his hoof. And then the other hoof develops an abcess. And still he has another procedure to place his leg in a full cast. Yesterday he had surgery to remove the cast and place more pins in the previously broken leg so that the shin would bear weight, not the hoof. I would have hated to have been in the center of that cascade of injuries and set-backs.

Barbaro's been photographed, lifted in and out of slings, and has never shown a moment's bad temper. Some horses are undeniable pukes and really do not deserve to be near enough to people so that they can freely step on our heads. And then there are others who amaze us with their patience and grace. He was so young to be so good. Not even three. Sweet Dreams, kiddo.

3 comments:

... said...

It's incredible what he went through and how good he was throughout it...

They're so large and fast and strong that sometimes it's hard to believe how fragile they are too.

CindyS said...

This makes me so blue. I can only hope that he wasn't in too much pain during all of this. I'm also sad for those who tried so hard to keep him with us.

CindyS

Jenster said...

Living in the Philadelphia area, we've seen every little step of his progress/decline every night on the news.

I was very sad yesterday to read he'd been put down, but I'm glad he's no longer suffering. So sad...