This really gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling. I LOVE the wedding invitation he got!!! :D
Barbaro still the focus of much support, well-wishers
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. - The most revered horse in America won't be going to Churchill Downs for next week's Breeders' Cup. For Barbaro, life goes on, and that's really all that matters.
Instead of a stretch run against the finest racehorses from the United States and Europe, Barbaro is continuing his marathon fight for survival that began more than five months ago.
And the nonstop support he has received from far and wide shows no sign of abating.
There are still homemade get-well cards adorning the white fence at the entrance of the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center where Barbaro is a patient in the intensive care unit. "There can be miracles," one sign begins, "if you believe in Barbaro!"
Halloween cards have started to come in. Dr. Corinne Sweeney, the hospital's executive director and the center's associate dean, displays a sample that reads: "Wishing a Halloween filled with fun for someone who is awesome and you're the one. Your Baton Rouge (La.) buddies."
The agony of Barbaro's spring breakdown and surgery and the anguish of his severe laminitis summer setback are behind him. Now, in all its splendor, autumn has come to pastoral southeast Pennsylvania and he is able to be led outdoors for about 40 minutes in late afternoon every day to enjoy the cooler weather and partake of the still lush grass.
Accompanied by a police escort and a caravan of cars, he arrived at this Mayo Clinic of veterinary hospitals in critical condition on the night of May 20 after making the 82-mile ambulance trip from Baltimore. His right hind leg had been severely injured at the start of the Preakness.
Since that night it has been one day at a time, not only for Barbaro but also for his owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson; Dr. Dean Richardson, chief of surgery at New Bolton; Dr. Sweeney; and countless others in their supporting cast.
"He still has a long, long way to go," Richardson cautions. "A tremendous amount of healing still has to take place."
`A coin toss' to live
Assisted by an associate professor of anesthesia and three resident veterinarians, Richardson performed the five-hour operation on May 21 that gave Barbaro his fighting chance. It took 27 pins and a stainless steel plate to repair the damage. At the time, Richardson called his chances of survival "a coin toss."
As spring turned into summer it seemed that Barbaro was winning the toss. But on July 13, there was a major setback: A severe case of laminitis, an often fatal condition caused by putting an inordinate amount of weight on an injured foot, in Barbaro's case the left hind foot. After 80 percent of the hoof wall was surgically removed and a padded bandage was put on, Richardson said Barbaro was "a long shot" to survive.
Again, the long shot seems en route to victory.
Although Barbaro looks like a normal horse standing in his stall, when he emerges he doesn't resemble the magnificent thoroughbred who won the Kentucky Derby so brilliantly that he gave reason to believe he was en route to becoming the first Triple Crown champion since 1978.
"He has a nice hair coat and he looks good," says Richardson. "Since he started grazing in August he has put on over 50 pounds. But he doesn't look like a racehorse. He has been on the equivalent of bed rest other than to go outside and get walked once a day."
The right hind foot remains encased in a fiberglass cast, primarily to help protect his left. "We're pretty sure that he could be out of the cast in his right hind, except that we don't want to take any risks of overloading his left hind," Richardson explains. "In some parts of the left hoof he has good growth but other parts are slower.
"He's bright and inquisitive. He seems to have a real desire to go on."
The sweet sorrow
When the time comes for Barbaro to depart, there will be a void in the lives of the people who work at New Bolton. "I'm sure there will be many tears shed that day because we've become so attached to him," says communications coordinator Jennifer Rench. "But they'll be tears of joy."
Neither Sweeney nor Richardson anticipated that Barbaro's presence would produce so many gestures of solidarity, big and small. They range from intermittent lunch deliveries of pizza, salad, cake and soft drinks for the staff to the establishment of the Barbaro Fund that has raised more than $1.2 million for New Bolton.
"It was started by an anonymous donor who contributed a very large fund and it just snowballed from there," says Sweeney. "It was a terrible tragedy but the Jacksons have allowed us to be the benefactors of the good things that came out of their tragedy. The story wouldn't be out there (because of privacy laws) if they hadn't okayed it."
The most touching gesture is the June 27 presentation of a U.S. flag flown in combat zones and an accompanying plaque from special forces wounded in action that celebrates the "American spirit, the ability to overcome insurmountable odds in the face of adversity."
There is also a funny story.
"This summer Barbaro received a beautiful wedding invitation with an RSVP and everything," relates Rench. "Dr. Richardson wrote a little note to the couple saying: `Thank you very much for the invitation and best of luck. At this point Barbaro does not have any interest in remaining monogamous.'''
In Richardson's opinion, if Barbaro makes an optimum recovery he will be able to be used as a stallion. Given his pedigree and brilliant record in his brief racing career, he probably would become a multi-million dollar stud.
But the Jacksons' primary concern isn't for Barbaro to someday have a love life. Like countless others across America, they just want him to have a long and happy life.
