The Horse Doctor

I'm sure everyone knows by now that Barbaro was euthanized today. Oddly enough, it was about 15 minutes after I discussed the issue with Joe Block on the Weekend Block Party on 1010 AM shortly after noon. Joe and I had tried to do this a week or so ago but I couldn't get free. Joe's point has been why go so far with a horse. In almost every case horse's with injuries such as this are euthanized at the track. He feels that the owners are pushing to do everything possible so they can get a financial boon should he make it to the breeding shed. I have been around alot of race horse owners, (some nice,some not very nice,) but I have to say that in my experience, they all cared deeply about the welfare of the horse. Frequently decisions had to be made do to finances, usually requiring the cessation of treatment. In every case nobody walked away thinking about $$$$$. Joe did a great deal of research and was well prepared, however, I think he was playing up the role of the an...

I had the opportunity to go to Phoenix for the National Championship game. I flew out that Monday non-stop to LA then over to Phoenix by 1:30. My friends had rented the biggest limo I have ever seen and it picked me up at the airport. After picking up everybody we went to the game. I have to say the OSU fans were friendly but unbelievably over confident. I heard over and over how the Gators didn't deserve to be there. I just said "they're awfully fast". The place went nuts after the Buckeyes returned the opening kickoff....I said " #$@%". Then we scored on the three next possessions....I said "they're awfully fast". The OSU fans went from the stratospheric heights of jubilation to the absolute pit of dispare. I saw people crying around me as the beating continued. Florida was flawless and none of them saw it coming. It was indeed a great time to be a Gator. I was with my Dad in 1995 when we played Nebraska for the National Title in Phoenix. Th...

I was reading one of the MilBlogs on my list of daily readings and found this on " BadgersForward " ( check the site,it's worth the read) combat engineers defusing roadside bombs (over 300 so far). It's a great site and a great letter. I find it helps redirect my perspective after one of those days when you feel beat down, over worked and spent. I hope it works for you. Open Letter to Our Armed Forces and Their Families From Ben Stein Greetings From Rancho Mirage By Ben SteinTuesday, January 23rd Dear Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, National Guard, Reservists, in Iraq, in the Middle East theater, in Afghanistan, in the area near Afghanistan, in any base anywhere in the world, and your families: Let me tell you about why you guys own about 90 percent of the backbone in the whole world right now and should be happy with yourselves and proud of whom you are. It was a dazzlingly hot day here in Rancho Mirage today. I did small errands like going to the bank to pay m...

I wanted to post again this time of year about how important it is to watch your mares during foaling season. The down side is that you have to spend alot of nights without sleep. There is now a website called "MareStare" where people watch your horses via a web cam and you can sleep. You can set up an alarm where they can send you an e-mail when they see her foaling. Since people watch in other time zones , they are awake while we sleep. I think you could even get them to watch your sick horse that needs observation as well. You can check out a wireless camera that works from up to 1000 feet away at this site " Barn Cam ".

Barbaro ( the horse that fractured his leg 7 months ago) has been in the news lately. For those that have not followed this case, he fractured his lower limb (pastern bone) in the Preakness and after surgical repair developed laminitis ( Founder) in his left hind foot. Probably the result of bearing to much weight on one foot and the stresses and physiologic changes taking place with such an injury. It's good to remember that if that were you or I, we would be confined to a hospital bed for awhile and probably not as good a patient. The horse on the other hand(hoof) has to stand shortly after surgery because they don't do well physiologically lying down for extended periods of time. This week Barbaro underwent a casting procedure on the laminitic hoof. This was done to help re-align his rotated coffin bone into a more normal angle. The next day he became more painful and additional separation was noted and more debridement was done. This is a setback to say the least. More ...