Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro euthanized

Barbaro in full flight beneath the Twin Spires (Michael J. Marten/Horsephotos.com) Kentucky Derby (G1) winner BARBARO (Dynaformer), who attracted worldwide attention during his battle to recover from a shattered right hind leg suffered in the May 20 Preakness S. (G1) and ensuing laminitis in his left hind foot, was euthanized on Monday morning at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center. Dr. Dean Richardson, chief of surgery at the New Bolton Center, held a Monday afternoon press conference with Barbaro's owner/breeders, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, to describe the final complications that led to the decision. Richardson choked up at times and displayed deep emotion as he discussed Barbaro's case. As a result of shifting weight off his laminitic left hind foot, Barbaro developed a severe bruise on the outside heel of his right hind foot. The bruise developed into a deep abscess. With his hind legs compromised, Barbaro shifted more weight to his front legs, "overloading" them, and then developed severe laminitis in both front feet. Richardson likened it to a "deck of cards" -- when one goes, the rest come down as well. "He had a very difficult night, mainly because he didn't lie down," Richardson said. "Last night was the first night ever that he was clearly distressed by his condition. "He was just a different horse," the chief of surgery went on to say. "You could see he was upset." Richardson said that Barbaro was now experiencing "an unmanageable amount of discomfort." "If we couldn't control his discomfort, we wouldn't go on, and that's why the decision was made," the chief of surgery reiterated. "(We are) very comfortable we made the right decision. It was the right thing to do now." Richardson said that there were cases where he felt he had waited too long, but not in Barbaro's case.

"One thing I will tell you, Barbaro had many, many good days," Richardson

said. "This horse had eight or nine months -- the vast majority of which he was

a happy horse."

Richardson revealed that Barbaro spent his last morning in his sling, "alert

and aware," eating his grass, but had received "lots of medications" because of

the pain.

"We were all there, and he knew us," Richardson said.

Barbaro was given a "very heavy dose of tranquilizer" intravenously, followed

by an overdose of anesthetic. His passing "could not have been any more

peaceful," Richardson noted.

The Jacksons expressed their feelings on this very difficult day.

"Grief is the price we all pay for love," Gretchen Jackson said, adding that

she hopes that people would "turn that energy into a love that supports horses

throughout the world."

In a similar vein, Roy Jackson mentioned several of the positive effects of

Barbaro's story, including the advances in veterinary medicine and education of

the general public arising from his case, as well as galvanizing support for the

anti-slaughter bill and helping backstretch workers.

Mr. Jackson hopes that these "issues won't die," but will be "acted on in a

positive way."

Barbaro had just undergone surgery on Saturday to replace a brace on his right hind

leg with an external skeletal fixation device. The device was designed to

eliminate all weight on his right hind leg. Barbaro had developed a deep subsolar abscess in his right hind foot following a recent setback in his left

hind foot, which had developed laminitis in July.

Over the weekend, Richardson said the abscess had undermined the sole of his

right hind foot and described the attempt

as a last-ditch effort to keep the horse "acceptably comfortable."

That was the latest in a series of measures to save the gallant colt, who

suffered catastrophic injuries during the early stages of the Preakness. In the

Pimlico classic, Barbaro sustained fractures to his cannon bone above the

fetlock joint, to the long pastern bone below the fetlock joint and to a

sesamoid bone behind the fetlock joint itself. The long pastern bone was

shattered into more than 20 pieces. The fetlock joint, or ankle, was dislocated.

Barbaro was transported to the New Bolton Center, where Richardson performed

surgery on him the day after the Preakness. To fuse the fetlock joint, 27 screws

were inserted along with a metal plate. Despite the life-threatening nature of

his injuries, the dark bay colt was an exemplary patient and offered many

encouraging signs, including a healthy appetite and a robust attitude.

On July 8, Barbaro had another surgery to stabilize his pastern joint,

involving the replacement of the plate and many of the screws. At the same time,

he was treated for an abscess in his left hind hoof.

On July 13, Richardson said that Barbaro had developed "as bad a case of

laminitis as you can have" in his left hind foot, the one opposite from his

shattered right limb, and termed his chances of recovering "poor."

Laminitis is an extremely painful condition in horses that can be the result

of a number of causes, including excessive weight bearing in one limb. It occurs

when laminae, the strong connecting tissues that attach the pedal bone and the

inner hoof wall, are inflamed.

A hoof wall resection was performed, in which 80 percent of Barbaro's hoof

wall was removed, and the colt was fitted with a modified fiberglass foot cast.

Richardson said that the laminitis was being treated "aggressively," and in

updates over the succeeding days reiterated that the Derby winner was

"acceptably comfortable." Barbaro spent several hours each day in a sling to

take weight off his hind legs.

By early August, Barbaro had improved. Richardson reported that his patient

was showing signs of re-growing his laminitic left hind hoof, and his right hind

leg was healing well. The dark bay was doing well enough to be able to graze

outside by mid-August, and he was no longer using his sling when in his stall.

Hopes ran high throughout the fall, as a steady stream of positive bulletins

were issued, notably the removal of the cast from his right hind leg on November

6. In mid-December, even though Richardson suggested that Barbaro could be able

to leave New Bolton in the foreseeable future, he remained concerned about "the

long term management of his left hind foot."

Dr. Scott Morrison, the head of equine podiatry at Rood and Riddle Equine

Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, examined Barbaro on December 19, and two weeks

later on January 3, applied a new cast to help stabilize the left hind foot and

re-align the coffin bone.

Barbaro's progress was tragically reversed on January 10, when he suffered a

"significant setback" in his laminitic left hind. More damaged tissue was

removed that day and again on January 13, when a cast was applied to his right

hind in an effort to give him more support.

Although his original fractures had healed, in the end, the cascade of complications

from laminitis proved too severe for the colt, whose bravery and intelligence

were widely commended.

With his resounding Kentucky Derby triumph, Barbaro joined an illustrious

list of champions. By succumbing to complications from laminitis, he joins a

similarly august list, including 1973 Triple Crown hero Secretariat and 1989

Horse of the Year Sunday Silence.