Monday, January 29, 2007

He could have been the greatest horse ever to have run

Photo Courtesy Deadspin.com

However, we'll never know. After a long battle to survive, Barbaro, the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, was euthanized this morning at New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, PA, where he had been treated since his right hind leg came up lame shortly after the start of the 2006 Preakness Stakes.

He won EVERY race that he was able to finish, and looked like a good bet to win racing's first Triple Crown since 1978. However, it just was not to be, and we are all poorer for it.

8 comments:

Desi Franklin said...

That was such a tragedy. I was really sad when I read that this morning.

Sharon Cobb said...

I was really sad when I read this.
I used to be a big horse racing fan, but because of situations like this, I have to question the morality of using an animal to race.

polar donkey said...

Barbaro was just a horse right? Not the karmic reincarnation of Princess Diana. I'm still trying to figure out why a fucking horse was the lead story on ABC nightly news.
In the Peace Corps in Tonga, there was this horse that died. The Tongans chopped it up, wrapped the pieces in palm leaves, and threw it in a fire pit. A few hours later 40 of us sat around a table and ate it. Even though there is only a handful of horses in all of Tonga. That horse didn't even make it on Tonga radio.
Barbaro got more healthcare than 50 million Americans dream of having access too. I really can't get very choked up about a prized, pampered animal in the SPORT OF KINGS being kept alive from a normally fatal injury so that it can inpregnate phillies for the next 30 years at a lucrative fee for it's owners.

Steve Steffens said...

and good morning to you, sir!

Modern Voice! said...

That was too sad, the poor thing had suffered for months. I hate horse and dog racing.

Desi Franklin said...

Since some people are homeless and can't afford good shoes, we shouldn't have ballet or basketball? Since there are some schools right here in Memphis that can't afford musical instruments, I guess that means no jazz. And I suppose the Sistine Chapel was an affront to civilization since there were plenty of poor people in Italy during the Renaissance.

No beauty allowed in an imperfect world, eh, PD?

polar donkey said...

You can have beauty in this world. That horse was a special animal. But the ridiculous level of attention and the whitewashed motivations for keeping a suffering animal alive should be considered.

Sharon Cobb said...

Polar,
I agree the coverage was way over the top.
I also agree that no animal (or person) should go through a lot of suffering.
However, if he had pulled through, his life would have been great. Even if his owners had less than altruistic motives, his life would have consisted of roaming in green pastures eating as much as he wanted while encouraged to have sex as often as possible.
Speaking strictly for myself, I'd be will to go through some suffering if someone told me that for 30 years I'd get to eat as much as I wanted and have sex all the time.