Barbaro

I figured some of the horse people might be interested in this:

http://www.vet.upenn.edu/bellwether/v65/article1.shtml

It's the current edition of UPenn's Vet School magazine, The Bellwether, and it features 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, who shattered a leg in the Preakness but has made an amazing recovery at the New Bolton Center, UPenn's vet hospital in suburban Philadelphia.

I found this most interesting:

"Nightline is working on a half-hour feature about Barbaro and New Bolton Center that should air in the fall."

I wish Barbaro all the best. I do waver back in forth somedays, wondering if everone has done right by him, but I am glad he seems to be recovering. Here's hoping everything continues to improve, and that he will be able to live a happy, pain-free life.

LEts hope they let him live out his life pain free and happy. I do want to see that. I dont really agree with the racing world but i feel so bad for him.

Big cudos to his owners for giving him another chance at life. Many would have put him down without a second thought. Just goes to show that not all race horses need to be put down after such a catastrophic injury. He really is a great example of an animals will to live and thrive.
Much luck to him, and I wish him a full, pain-free and happy life.

Don't know how much credit his owners deserve for "sparing" his life. He's worth a bloody fortune alive and producing sperm . . . .

so true renee. i know a few owners who spared a horse life jsut for their sperm needless to say i dont associate with them anymore or train their horses or teach their kids.

There was a show on him on espn the other day. I almost think they should have put him down with what he went through adn they made it sound like hes in constant pain now. He doens't get to do much.

I'm not sure how possible it will be for Barbaro to be a profitable stallion, as the Thoroughbred racing world doesn't allow artificial insemination, and I'm wondering how much weight that back leg will tolerate.

Oh i didnt know that they didnt allow A.I. i know very little about the racing world. It holds no interest for me lol. Hmmmm maybe htey will jsut retire him and let him live out his life as a pasture horse.

That's very likely the plan. From everything I've heard of the owners and the trainer, they sound like good people. I doubt anyone would have faulted them for having Barbaro euthanized after the Preakness, but they tried. And even if it had been unsuccessful, the attempt has apparently made a real contribution to the world of veterinary medicine. And that horse is a fighter; it was so sad when he got laminitis, but he survived even that.

As much as I think the owners will be happy if he just lives a happy, pain free life, I'm sure they will do everything they can to get him bred. One season at stud could probably pay off all the bills he has accumulated.

I can't believe they still ban AI. With all the DNA testing available these days, there is no reason to require live cover. It's an unnecessary risk to both the mare and the stallion. They could probably even teach Barbaro to ground collect, so he didn't have to jump up at all.

I agree i thought they did only AI since there is alot of risk in live. I do live but i also have sturdier breeds. That was shock to me. I have done AI before tho. The foal we are expecting from when i bred ranger was AI. And we had no issues and it was alot safer. The racing world jsut gets me sometimes lol.

AI always kind of makes me uneasy; it's just getting so far from the natural world (I'm not a tree-hugging kind of person, but it's a bit creepy). And then, if the theory about Poco Bueno is correct, AI made the QH's genetic problem of hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (thank God for google) that much more acute by allowing much more widespread breedings to popular sires who turned out to be carriers of the fatal gene.

that is true. Of course i never plan on breeding any of my horses as much as that. 5 breedings top and all live exept in Rangers case where he is sound but was not in shape to breed (fractured cannon) And even then i almost didnt breed until my vet that i have had for Ranger since he was in the womb agreed to do it lol. I think all breedings should be natural for any animal. The only exeptions is a planned breeding and a animal not able to preform because of an accident.

I don't know, I can't imagine ever risking my mare or stallion (well, not that I have either, but you know) for live cover. Among other things, it is incredibly hard on the stallion's hocks and back. When you figure that each breeding can take a couple of actual ummmm...matings....that's a lot for a stallion. Both stallions at our farm are done only AI, and in one collection, often shipments can be made to a couple of mare owners. Even with that, during the height of breeding season, they are often collected several times a week.

And obviously, the less a stallion is bred, the less any genetic problems he has will be spread. But you are also limiting how much you can spread really good genes!

That is true but if you only breed them 5-6 times that is not enough to seriously do any harm. Any more then that and i feel that better be the BEST horse in his displine and not just one area of it but most. THere are plenty of good genes in the horse world right now and i dont see that changing to soon. I do not agree with breeding like crazy good genes or not.

Well, I think to be bred at all, any horse had better be one of the very top in their discipline. I'm as picky about horses being bred as most people here are on dogs . Any horse being bred should have clean joint x-rays, be approved by their breed organization (if the breed does approval), and have spectacular bloodlines that are backed up by stong performance.

And yes, both stallions have been inspected and approved by several warmblood registries, and are or have been internationally competitive in their discipline. Both have great bloodlines that have produced a large number of highly competitive horses.

As they say, you breed the best to the best, and you still have to hope for the best!

I agree with the top but still dont liek the numbers but i also do not plan to breed to that scale. Im geussing they are English horses? I plan to do Western and concentrate on BR mostly.

If those were the only horses available though most people couldn't afford them. I do think that people breed to haphazardly but there is something to be said for a nicely bred trail or 4-H horse. It's good you have high standards though. I'm definitely not speaking out against that. I just think there's a 'market' or demand for solid pleasure horses as well.

I certainly don't disagree. But I guess I see it like dogs. With dogs, there will always be wonderful mixed breeds. They are going to happen, no matter what. So nobody should be setting out to breed nice mutts. You can find them anywhere.

There will always be super beginner/pleasure/trail horses out there. Nobody needs to strive to produce them. Breeding your nice backyard mare because you love her and want another one is fine, but I would expect her to, at the very least, have joint x-rays done, be tested for any genetic diseases her breed/s may be prone to, and be bred to an equally qualified stallion.

That aside, I was really refering to performance horses. Clearly there are different (not necessarily lower, just different) standards if you want a solid, sound, good natured pleasure horse as opposed to a performance horse.

Yes, they are dressage horses.