We shared in Barbaro’s long struggle
Amid all of the horrific and frightening world and local news, who would figure that the death of one horse would grab such international attention? But Monday’s sad ending to the story of Barbaro was the poignant conclusion to a classic story of young promise, a fateful turn, determination, courage and hope.
We who became captivated by Barbaro’s story knew that his life was in grave danger when his right rear ankle shattered May 20, only a few yards into The Preakness, the second race of the Triple Crown. It was a stunning accident; a huge let-down after the anticipation that had accompanied his thrilling six-and-a-half length victory at the Kentucky Derby two weeks before. It was the most spectacular Derby win in 60 years. In its wake, Barbaro was heralded as the next likely Triple Crown winner — maybe even the new Seattle Slew.
Then, in a split-second in May, Barbaro’s racing future was over, and he was in a neck-and-neck struggle for life.
Whenever dreamy expectations are prematurely shattered by harsh reality, it touches us. When the drama becomes hope and courage against long odds, we have to wonder if we let our hopes overshadow the situation’s realities.
Barbaro’s veterinarians repeatedly cautioned that the horse’s recovery never was assured, as history can attest.
Barbaro’s promise and his injury immediately recalled the saga of the legendary Ruffian.
In 1975, the 3-year-old Ruffian was heralded as the winningest filly of all time. Then, in the July 6 race against that year’s Kentucky Derby winner at Belmont Park, both of the sesamoid bones in her right front foreleg snapped.
Veterinarians set her broken bones, but when Ruffian awoke from the anesthetic, she thrashed wildly in her stall, further shattering her broken legs. She was quickly put down.
In hindsight, after more than eight months of slow recovery and setbacks and surgery and confinement, horse experts and horse admirers both are wondering if that wouldn’t have been the more humane treatment for Barbaro. But anyone who saw a video of Barbaro taken just a few months ago, walking easily from his stable and grazing in the sun, saw that the horse was evidently enjoying life. We thought then that his story would end happily; that we soon would see videos of Barbaro’s colts and fillies, leaping and grazing in green fields.
So it was with a horrible pang that we learned Monday that Barbaro’s shattered leg
developed serious complications over the weekend that emergency surgery Sunday couldn’t repair. Both Barbaro’s injured right hind leg and his diseased left hind leg were compromised, and he was in pain, with no real hope for recovery. His owners and vets made the tough decision to end that pain.
In the aftermath of Barbaro’s death, it is proper to ask some hard questions about horse racing: Who will compile what was learned from Barbaro’s eight-month ordeal and near-win over such a devastating injury? Will there be any progress to address the perennial issues in thoroughbred horse racing, namely that thoroughbred horses are 1,200-pound animals that run on spindly legs as precariously as super-models run on platform shoes — often with the same predictable tumbles? Did the crowding at the start of The Preakness cause Barbaro’s fracture, when another horse, Brother Derek, accidentally kicked him? Are colts trained and raced too early? We don’t tolerate it when human athletes resort to extreme means to win; why is it OK in horse racing?
If Barbaro’s death prompts an investigation that examines long-accepted breeding, training and racing procedures in “the sport of kings,” it could usher in improvements that might spare future swift, graceful horses like Barbaro.
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