Barbaro Accident Picture

[GTs]

No Barbaro will not be racing anymore - spiral fractures you might get away with it (Maria's Storm), but not a comminuted racture. If he is lucky he will be breed, if not his owners have a nice farm and he will be a lawnmower.

There is a rumour that an autistic boy has been promised a ride on him however that is grape vine talk. I am not sure it is wise to put even the most skilled rider on a 4 year old stallion, who only knows racing, has been on stall rest for 10 months, and can not get excited. I am sure if it is true, they will be very careful can't risk anything at this point.

 

[sevenoceans]

Thats Nice to hear he got future whatever it is.

 

[madgirl]

blimy so many pins and stuff

 

[GTs]

The main thing is his owners do not try and take him in the their hand luggage - airport security would not know what to do.

 

[madgirl]

PMSl!

 

[jemima]

Good grief - that's horrendous and as for all the metal work:O

 

[WelshRareBit]

God that poor animal must have been in so much pain! It hurts me to even look at it!!

 

[Dogbetty141]

good god that is horrible pic to look at goes through me hope the gg gets well soon. Suprised they are doing it would it not have been kinder to pts he must be in such pain??

 

[randira]

Thanks - having lost my horse to a similar injury I really needed to see your 'awesome' picture.

 

[TrecPeter]

That really is spine chilling to even think about.
It's amazing they were able to patch him up.

Good luck Barbaro....

 

[Alibear]

I get a bit miffed when people say would it be kinder to have PTS as he's in pain/

Glad they don't do that with us humans.

And if you look up Barbaro's care, the accident happened at a track, horse ambulance and skilled vet were minuets away, he stayed in one of the (if not the ) top equine hospital and has been cared for 100% with pain management through out this entire recover (find the photo's of his floating raft they're very neat).

His pain load has been monitored and controlled closely though out and at not stage did anyone thing he was certain to recover with a nasty post op case of laminitis flaring up.

But he looks like he's going to make it, he's had 100% care through out and has been as "comfortable" as possible throughout (and in no more discomfort than 1000's of horses feel when they are operated on for what ever reasons)

Up side is he is still here as a new example of just what vets can do know and the vets involved have learnt a lot more about what is possible with this kind of break/fracture in horses.

Things like this enable new steps forward to be made in the welfare of all our horses.

Or should we still just shoot anything that gets colic/laminitis/ tendon injuries and any of the myriad of other ailments that were thought to be immediate reason to PTS in the past?

 

[Sparklet]

Having seen a pretty horrific accicent at a point to point where it was apparent to all that one of the horses had snapped its canon bone, they certainly do get the speedy veterinary treatment that you would expect the rider to get.

The whole incident was dealt with in a matter of minutes - including erection of screens - for the sensitive spectators both the horse ambulance and the trailer belonging to the local kennels attended and no-one knew which took the horse away (although it was probably easy to guess)

I'm not convinced that severe injuries should be mended and to be honest I am also not convinced that this horse will have much quality of life but I suppose someone with a lot of hope has decided to give it a go. If this horse can be used on mares and the limb is strong enough for him to have a run about in a field then perphaps something has been salvaged, however if it has to remain pretty much confined then PTS might be the better option.

 

[GTs]

When he had that bad week in July I too thought PTS probably was not a bad idea -however every picture you see of him he looks happy. If he maintained that attitude which I think he did throughout his recovery I do not see how you can put him to sleep. You can not really judge pain, or what went on from 1 picture and 1 x-ray.

Also his owners, trainer, and vet staff are not novices and I am sure none of them would hesitate putting him down if it was deemed the right time.

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks - having lost my horse to a similar injury I really needed to see your 'awesome' picture.

[/ QUOTE ]

You could probably have benefited from reading the title - it pretty much announced what you were going to see.

 

[Lucy_Ally]

[ QUOTE ]
I get a bit miffed when people say would it be kinder to have PTS as he's in pain/

Glad they don't do that with us humans.

And if you look up Barbaro's care, the accident happened at a track, horse ambulance and skilled vet were minuets away, he stayed in one of the (if not the ) top equine hospital and has been cared for 100% with pain management through out this entire recover (find the photo's of his floating raft they're very neat).

His pain load has been monitored and controlled closely though out and at not stage did anyone thing he was certain to recover with a nasty post op case of laminitis flaring up.

But he looks like he's going to make it, he's had 100% care through out and has been as "comfortable" as possible throughout (and in no more discomfort than 1000's of horses feel when they are operated on for what ever reasons)

Up side is he is still here as a new example of just what vets can do know and the vets involved have learnt a lot more about what is possible with this kind of break/fracture in horses.

Things like this enable new steps forward to be made in the welfare of all our horses.

Or should we still just shoot anything that gets colic/laminitis/ tendon injuries and any of the myriad of other ailments that were thought to be immediate reason to PTS in the past?

[/ QUOTE ]

Mmm, I think that you have used several sweeping generalisations here and as someone who researchs new treatments for tendon injuries I am fully aware of the need to progess science for equine welfare.
However sometimes you have to call it a day, when the entire hoof comes away from the contro-lateral leg and the horse is basically standing on its pedal bone I don't think it s courageous or heroic to keep that horse alive even if it is up to its eyeballs in painkillers. The ammount of metalwork and boney changes in that limb is horrific and whilst a 10 stone human who can be told to take it easy can benefit from such reconstructive treatment - half a ton of muscle with a brain the size of a grapefruit is not going to preserve that limb. Even as a "lawnmover" you won't prevent him from hooning around as he is a young stallion that was bred to race. He may go on for years and be fine, or they may find his leg shattered again whilst just turned out in the field. Alternatively he may never come right and be plagued with lameness and is almost certain to get osteoarthritis, he will have endured months of painful procedures, cross tying and box rest for nothing.

Its only my opinion, but for what its worth I think that the vets and owners have got carried away with seeing what they can do rather than what was best for the horse.

 

[amandaco2]

oh jeeze that make me flinch.
yucky yuck

 

[GTs]

I think it is awfully difficult to be strongly opinionated for putting him to sleep - his team has always stated that as soon as he showed signs of not wanting to continue they would make the decision - obviously he has been fighting. When your team consists of one of the best ortheopedic surgeons in the world, a hall of fame showjumper and an excellent horseman acclaimed by his peers, and one of the most prestigous racing stables in North America - I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt.

Bone is the only thing that grows back stronger than before, and there are many 'lawnmowers' with fused pasterns - so there is hypothetical potential. He is behaving himself when he is being taken out to graze, so he can't be a total wing nut.

 

[Lucy_Ally]

Working for one of the worlds best orthopaedic vets (who incidently knows Barbaro's veterinary team) with whom I have discussed this I think its fair to say that I can formulate my own opnions no matter how strong you think they are. You may not agree with them, thats your choice but they are my views and I am sticking to them!

With regards to bone healing I take it that you mean an increase in bone mass post fracture? This is not truely indicative of bone strength as the allignment of collagen fibres and BMD have more critcal roles in bone strength. In fact in most biological materials it is the organisational composition of the tissue that confers strength rather than the mass. Plus it is well documented that any screws/fixators/pins etc all contribute to reduced bone strength in that area and increased stresses on adjacent areas not to mention increased risks of infection in the bone and inadequate fracture stability.

He may be quiet in hand, by all accounts he is a sweet and laid back horse. That doesn't mean he won't hoon around - you can't keep him wrapped in cotton wool for ever and expect him to enjoy his life.