Arabian Horses Run at Churchill Downs

While I'm recuperating here's some information I thought I might share. This last Saturday was a day in history for the Arabian horse as they raced for the first time ever at Churchill Downs in Kentucky. The Predident's of UAE Cup was a stakes race with a $50,000 purse highlighted the Arabian horse in a mile at a quarter and saw of a field of eight Arabian horses.

This link includes commentary with all pertinent details about the the President's Cup, the field of horses, owners and the trainers as well as the history of Arabian horse racing in the world and the US as well as information about the President's cup. View the race here.

Arabian horses have been fighting to gain respect racing in this country since I first became involved with them. They have had to overcome at lot of prejudice in this battle and it has only been in the past few years that bigger more prestigious races have been available to the Arabian horse. As the purses have grown, so has the respect for the Arabian as a race horse. It warmed my heart to hear that Calvin Borel, one of the top jockeys in the country, was riding am Arabian filly in this race. It shows how far the Arabian horse has come in its journey to be recognized in this country for a sport that literally began with the Arabian horse many centuries ago.

The commentary is done by Christie Eagen of Arabian Results. Christie's normal role at Arabian events, which are usually horse shows, is to publish daily sheets featuring the results of the day's competition. She's been in this industry as long as I can remember and knows her stuff about the Arabian horse but I'd venture to guess doing commentary on Arabian horse racing is not her usual. I think she was as excited to be at Churchill Downs as the owners and trainers were.

A Broken Leg Isn't a Death Sentence Anymore..........

With Archarcharch sustaining an injury in the running of today's Kentucky Derby, I found myself researching to find out the prognosis for this amazing horse. Knowing that horses will still try to run with the pack even injured always makes me wince. Crippled horses still racing cause themselves even more harm and really complicate already bad injuries but Archarcharch seemed to be functioning pretty well from what I could see.

Other than a stumble out of the gate and a few strides to regain footing, I didn't see anything that particularly scared me. Coming from the number 1 position on the rail the horse was expected to be in a bad place for winning. Even when I watched the playbacks there was nothing that told me the horse was injured. Definitely not the "typical" three legged horse I've watched before trying to keep up with no real hope. Yet, Archarcharch was taken from the racetrack by ambulance.

Knowing the horse stepped onto the ambulance solidly moving on four legs but knowing how stoic some horses can be, I was worried about Archarcharch. Something was not quite right or the horse wouldn't be leaving the track in that fashion. The track vet had ordered x-rays to find the culprit but was optimistic because the horse was putting equal pressure on all four legs.

The Derby broadcast went off air before news of Archarcharch's injury was known. Doing a search I found the horse was diagnosed with a lateral condylar fracture which meant nothing more to me that something's broken so I did more digging.

Specifically Archarcharch suffered a fracture of the canon bone running from the front to back and on up the outside (lateral). To treat it will probably require plates and screws but horses are known to make full recoveries from such breaks and even return to racing. Considering this horse was walking firmly on a broken leg I would hope indicates the horse is a good candidate for just that but I guess only time will tell.

Congratulations to Derby Winner, Animal Kingdom. It was an exciting race. Information on the race is here

The article Broke Legs Aren't Death carried the information about the diagnosis and treatment of Archarcharch's injury and also covered some very useful information about all kinds of fractures in the legs of horses, treatment and prognosis. It's definitely worth a read.

Today's picture is Doc just minutes after he was born. As you can see Dare is still licking him.

Derby Thoughts Lead to Secretariat and Maybe Beyond

While watching the pre-show of the Kentucky Derby I heard mention of the new Disney movie to be released this fall on the great Secretariat. Of course, I'll be right there at the box office to see that movie because I love those stories of great horsesm let alone those that weren't really expected to be great in the first place. It seems that Secretariat was one of those colts. No one knew at the start he was anything particularly special. Yet he's considered by some to be the greatest race horse of all time.

As thoughts of the great red horse ran through my head, I realized that I hadn't seen all three of his wins in the triple crown. With today's modern technologies I suspected I could probably "fix" that situation by locating old footage on YouTube. Being able to see it after the fact is better for me than never seeing it at all so I went in search and here's what I found.


Secretariat running the Kentucky Derby



Secretariat at the Preakness




Secretariat at Belmont Stakes



Calvin Boreal said at the Derby this year he thinks his colt, Super Saver, IS the next great colt. He has never predicted a triple crown winner before and some think maybe we should be paying attention to what this jockey has to say. He does study his horses to get inside their heads before he rides them. Maybe he knows something and the next big dream is looming around the corner. I don't know about you, but I'm going to be there watching just in case. I don't want to miss another opportunity to see a Triple Crown Winner in REAL time!

Derby Day...........

OK, I know I should be continuing on about the Daffodil show but I just can't/won't overlook the Kentucky Derby. I have loved the derby since I was a kid. It has captured that magical, wonderful, dream notion that seems to have me pretty well wrapped up in horses.

I actually got to see a couple of the races that were run with Derby hopefuls this year. It's the first time I've had access to such races and it made things all the more exciting for me. I can't tell you who won them because my memory sucks....but the fact I got to see them at all was amazing!

Today, I watched nearly every moment of the derby preshow and then the race. I love the outrageous hats and the designer clothes but if I could be there, you can bet I'd be wearing jeans.......and probably old ones at that. On my head, who knows? A baseball cap with my horse's name or maybe a cowboy hat. It's fun just thinking about the possibilities.

I loved that there was no clear favorite. Racing is just so much more fun when even the experts don't have a clue. I loved that the track was sloppy making things all the more unpredictable. I loved that there were twenty horses in the field. A huge number, for sure, but it just added all that much more excitement.

I loved that there was a filly in the class..........and yes, I was rooting for her. I was also rooting for the group of twenty-five blue collared owners and their $10,000 horse. If that's not the stuff dreams and even legends sometimes are made of, nothing is.

I loved that Calvin Borel was riding again. He's come a long way since that first win. He seems to be more polished in his interviews. He's definitely gained confidence in what he has to say.

Speaking of Calvin Borel, I love that he thinks it's important to study the horse, all horses. He believes they have something to teach him and that affects how he rides. What I love most about him is he still has integrity. Something not seen enough in the horse industry.

Most of all, I loved today's race. It was exciting to watch that huge field break out of the gate and head for the rail. It was exciting to see a horse come from the 20th position on up to the front. Many horses couldn't get there. It was exciting to see those blue collared owners horse gave them a thrill.......even if it didn't hold on. It was a helluva ride. I'll bet they never forget it. And, of course, it was exciting to see Calvin Borel come up the rail and into the lead with Ice Box racing up in hot pursuit. My blood pumped all the way through the race and on into the replay.

Oh ya, lest I forget, it was fun to see Super Saver's $100,000 CNBC on the nose tickets (it took forty of them to add up to that total) paid off at $900,000. I'm pretty sure that guy will never forget this day. Better than winning the lottery. I'd guess. There's nothing as exciting as having your horse come in..........but a Kentucky Derby horse with a ticket "won" in the first place. Talk about a dream............


(Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Controversy or Soap Box?

With the death of Teddy O'Connor Eventing Pony Theodore O'Connor Dies the amazing jumping pony, I can't help but flashback to the death of Eight Belles as well. Two such totally different experiences, Eight Belles died doing what she loved and Teddy O'Connor died because he was being a horse. It just goes to show how fragile horses really are.

We tend to believe that because they are big and powerful that they are indestructible as well. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Horses are built top heavy balancing all of that weight onto thin legs. It's amazing that their legs even support such a frame in the first place let alone allow them to move in a manner that can seem effortless.



When something happens to horses like Eight Belles we automatically blame it on humans. Eight Belles' Death Sparks Controversy
But Eight Belles was as fragile a horse a Teddy O'Connor.

The thing that made both of these horses great was their heart. While we can be in awe of the heart of a horse, we must also remember that great heart can cause them jeopardy. Horses who push on past normal for other horses may have the look of eagles but that very attribute means they will test their bodies to the ultimate limit. A horse that pushes past the limits of its body dies most of the time. It's as simple as that.

The great mass of the horse's body pounding along can have catastrophic consequences. A horse like my Scandalous changing direction too abruptly ends up dying from the damage done internally by the sheer force of the action. Eight Belles, Barbaro ane many others had their legs give out from the pounding they took carrying their top heavy frame to such extremes. The fall that Teddy O'Connor took running back to the barn caused a severe laceration to his hind leg, severing the tendons and ligaments. How did that happen.........the sheer force caused by his body weight behind the fall.

We may try to protect the horse to some extent from such tragedies but we never will be able to prevent them all. It's inherent in the make-up of the horse that such things can and will happen.

We don't do the horse any service by blaming humans for something they have no control of in the first place. But we open ourselves up to outside scrutiny from people who react totally off emotion with little if any understanding of the issue or the horse. The possibility of regulation based on such scrutiny could be devastating to the horse industry and to the horses we're trying to protect in the first place. What do you think?

How Instincts Played into the Tragedy of Ruffian

In yesterday's post, A Salute to Ruffian - Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Filly I tried to explain the human dynamics of what went into the demise of Ruffian. Today;, I want to address the herd dynamics and instincts of the horse that played into this tragedy.

Unless you're really tuned into horses and their interactions, I'm sure you're wondering what herd dynamics or instincts could possibly have to do with the great thoroughbred filly's accident. While most people who love horses enjoy them and interact with them, many do not really understand how horses think, what drives them to do what they do.

If they did such "horse whispers" as John Lyons, Monty Roberts, Pat Parelli, Clinton Anderson and Tommy Garland, Gawani Pony Boy to name a few, wouldn't be able to draw such huge audiences or sell nearly as many books, videos and DVDs. The movement of natural horsemanship taught by all these horsemen is very much based on the language of the horse and its instincts.

So what instincts played into this accident. The first thing that comes to mind for me is the herd instinct. Horses need to be in a herd. They seek companionship. If you put horses together on a track, for all intents and purposes, those horses are now a herd. If one runs off, the others will follow because their instinct tells them safety is with the herd. No matter how threatened or injured a horse might be, its instincts tell it it must keep up with its herd.

The second thing that comes to mind for me is the desire to be as high on the peeking order as possible. Some horses have a stronger desire than others to be the lead horse but all horses are looking for their opening to move up the peeking order. A race horse looking for an opening is looking to move up the peeking order.

I know when I breed for show horses one of the attributes I want in my horses is attitude. A big attitude translates to presence in the show ring. A horse with presence goes into the ring radiating it's attitude/presence and commands attention. Horses with great presence do not get overlooked by the judges.

I would guess it is the same way with thoroughbreds. The horse with the biggest attitude is not going to allow itself to be outrun by another horse. The bigger the attitude the stronger the heart that horse will have as a runner.

In both cases, these horses are competitive. They want to win. Out in the field, they're in charge. Out on the track, they give everything they've got and more. In the show ring, they know the score and they understand what that ribbon is about. They all want to win.

Frank Whiteley didn't want Ruffian to run in a match race because he understood the depth of her desire to win. He also understood that with the field whittled down to only two, the intensity would be magnified. Both horses would feed off of each other and there were no other herd members to spread the focus out, slow it down, make it manageable.

Frank Whitely understood to take two champions with the desire and heart of Foolish Pleasure and Ruffian head to head was like asking them to duel to the death. Each horse was so driven to be the winner, they wouldn't be smart or safe, they would attack that race with a vengeance with total disregard for themselves, running to win at all costs.

Ruffian broke out of that gate with nothing more on her mind than making that colt eat her dust. The more dust she could make him eat the better. She may have felt a twinge in her leg before it actually broke, but if she did, she didn't care. All she cared about was leading and lengthening that lead. The harder Foolish Pleasure tried to catch her, the more driven Ruffian was to stay ahead. Her instinct to be the alpha mare was at a feverish pitch.

Once the leg broke, the filly was still guided by instinct. Even if she did give up the idea of being on top (which it sounds like she did not) she still would have been driven by the instinct to stay with the herd. The more badly a horse is hurt, the more desperate the horse would be to stay with the herd. An injured horse's safety could only be in numbers and injured racehorses are known for trying to continue to run. Ruffian was no exception.

The third thing that comes to mind for me is the flight or fight response. Any horse that is startled or frightened is going to flee or fight to protect themselves. Most people know that but they don't think about how it expresses itself in their relationship with their horses.

Horses that are put under anesthesia are dangerous when they are coming out from under the drugs. They are dangerous to themselves and others. The reason they are so dangerous is because they are disoriented and their flight/fight instinct kicks into high gear. All they know is they feel threatened and they react according to that instinct. Most fight for all they are worth. Ruffian fought harder than most, breaking her other leg.

The tremendous instincts of Ruffian are what made her an incredible racing filly in the first place. Her desire to be the best, the fastest was so strong it made her what she was. But it was also the depths of those instincts that destroyed her in the end.

herd instincts horse racing Ruffian

A Salute to Ruffian - Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Filly

After the Belmont Stakes yesterday with the amazing win by the filly, Rags to Riches, I couldn't resist posting on my blog about the race that people will be talking about for generations. Rags to Riches Wins the Belmont Stakes
Hurray for Girl Power Finally a Filly!


Then last evening, as if destiny had pre-ordained, ABC aired the made for TV movie, Ruffian. Based on the life of what has been said to be the most amazing thoroughbred filly of all time. Well, there's no way I can not give Ruffian her due. Granted someday Rags to Riches may stand in the same company with this great filly but the fateful story of Ruffian must not be denied.

I'll leave the details and statistics of her racing career to others. Here's a brief biography on Ruffian and information about the match race.Foolish Pleasure and Ruffian
Here I'm going to address what I believe is the fateful part of this amazing filly's story.

The only reason that Ruffian didn't run against the boys was that her trainer, Frank Whiteley, wanted her career to last as long as possible. He wanted to bring her on slow and build her up so she didn't break down. His plan was for her to run against the boys when he thought that she was ready and not before.

Not that Whitely didn't think the filly could beat the boys. He not only thought she could, he was convinced. But Frank wanted to mold and shape her racing experience psychologically so that when she did race the colts, she could take them on with the same grit and confidence she had against the fillies. He wanted her to be able to run those races on her terms not intimidated or forced but proud and free and with the ease he knew she had. He wanted her to run those races smart!

It was the thoroughbred racing industry that pushed for Ruffian to take on the big boys sooner. Attendance at the tracks was lagging and the industry was in trouble. The filly had sparked an enthusiasm the industry hadn't seen in a long time and the leaders intended to capitalize on the momentum.

Whiteley never believed in match races. He felt they were hard on the horses. That the intensity of a two horse race might be good for the spectators but it could only be detrimental to the horses. He believed match racing exploited the horses' determination to run past the point of sanity and put them a jeopardy. He was violently opposed to Ruffian running in any such race.

However, the racing commission convinced the owners that Ruffian could save the industry and that the only way was through the match race against Foolish Pleasure, winner of the Kentucky Derby. They agreed to allow the filly to run in that race.

Whiteley agreed to continue to train the filly but put his foot down firmly and threatened to quit when the television crews wanted to start the race on a curve instead of out of the chute. While he couldn't keep his filly out of the race he did manage to affect the final decision on the start. The race was begun out of the chute in the best interest of the horses despite the bad angle for the tv cameras

The fateful day of the match race arrived and it was a media spectacle of the most obscene kind. When all was said and done, what the crowd experienced was the start of a race of the century but a day that ended in tragedy.

After record setting time in the first quarter and with Ruffian in the lead by half a length, the filly broke down. The jockey heard a loud cracking sound but was unable to pull up the injured filly. Ruffian was determined to race. The bold filly couldn't stand Foolish Pleasure passing her. Her attempt to catch the colt pulverized her broken front leg. When the jockey finally did manage to get the filly pulled up her front limb was a dangling, useless, bloody mess.

And even then the filly didn't want to stop. It took all they had to stabilize the leg and get the injured filly into the ambulance and to the vet hospital. All the while Ruffian was fighting to run.

Several hours of surgery and a press conference later, Ruffian's leg had been repaired but a prognosis wouldn't come until the filly was out of anesthesia. And the rest is history, Ruffian fighting the anesthesia and still trying to run injured herself beyond comprehension. There was nothing left to do but euthanized thoroughbred racing's greatest filly.

Why did this senseless tragedy happen? In tomorrow post's, I'm going to try answer the some of those questions.
herd instincts horse racing Ruffian

Rags to Riches Wins the Belmont Stakes Hurray for Girl Power Finally a Filly!

AP/Jason DeCrow photo

There's no way I can overlook the fact that finally a filly has won the Belmont Stakes after a 102 years. The 3 year old filly, Rags to Riches, was brought into the race after Street Sense, the winner of the Kentucky Derby was pulled from the line-up. The owners of Rags to Riches expressed their desire to please the public as their reason for the move and please the public is what they did!

The remarkable chestnut 3 year old filly stumbled coming out of the gate, was pushed wide in to the first turn and still came up in the run of her life in a head to head battle down the stretch to beat Curlin', the winner of the Preakness Stakes and second in the Kentucky Derby to Street Sense.

While many in the crowd didn't lay their money down on the nose of the filly, the crowd roared its appreciation as she crossed the finish line beating out a string of the best colts in the country.

Another story of girl power behind the scenes to my way of thinking, the last two Belmont Stakes winners, Rags to Riches and Jazil, were both out of the mare, Better than Honor. Jazil won his race in 2:27.86 and his sister won hers in 2:27:85 beating out her brother's time by one one hundredth of a second. If that isn't a statement about breeding, I'm not sure what is. I'm not sure what the statistics on broodmares producing multiple winners for any of the triple crown races might be, but my guess is Better than Honor is making her own mark.

This win makes Rags to Riches the most valuable thoroughbred filly in the world and singles her out as one of the most amazing fillies in US racing history. Fillies are rarely raced against colts in this country because it's a common belief that it's just to hard for the fillies to out run the colts. When a filly finally does beat out the colts, she is guaranteed a place in racing history.

Even though the filly was given 5 pounds (standard handicapping weight given to a filly as compensation when running against the more muscular colts) and some would (and did) disparage that, anyone who knows and breeds horses knows there is definitely a difference in the musculature and bone of the boys over the girls. Those fillies who have dared to run the elite races have rarely been seen in the winner's circle even with the 5 pounds.

As exciting an afternoon as this has all been, I must confess I missed the race. I remembered at the last minute, turned to the wrong station and by the time I realized my mistake tuned in just in time to see Rags to Riches being pulled up. I did get to see the race in rerun which is never the same but I still can't help but bask in the the fact that Girl Power won the day.

For news story on the Belmont win



Belmont Stakes horse racing Triple Crown

More on the Abuse of Arabian Horses

There has been a lot of buzz since my post yesterday An Arabian Mare's Death Due to the Halter Division's Dirty Little Secret. From what I can tell, the discussion has taken place mostly outside on private forums and through emails. While I encourage any and all discussion because it helps to enlighten people, I would hope that you would share your reactions here as well so that more folks can benefit from the input. This practice is just one of the horse industry's dirty little secrets. While I may have posted it in regards to the Arabian horse, you can bet that equally as egregious occurrences are happening across the industry. Our best weapon against them is exposing them.

Much is being written about the age at which horses are being campaigned. This morning I came across this blog post Must Read. This post is a copy of an article by Robert M Miller DVM that talks about Barbaro, his injury and the race industry. In the article Miller explains the injury that Barbaro experienced is common for young race horses but it's only the famous ones like Barbaro and Ruffian that ever get noticed by the press. Miller also talks openly about the problems for the horse when it is started as young as horses are today for both racing and show futurities. This article really is a Must Read and I thank The Equus Ink for the post.

While some may think that showing and racing horses are the culprits here, there really are responsible people out there participating in these activities that are not doing so at the expense of the horse. Stopping these activities all together is like throwing the baby out with the bath water. There is no reason why a horse cannot be shown safely and humanely. Whether or not that happens depends on the trainer and the owner and their ethics.

Despite the belief of some people that there is no such thing as an honest trainer who cares about horses, that is just not so. There are definitely responsible horsemen out there. In the Arabian industry look at Tommy Garland and his series on RFD-TV. Tommy practices what he calls CPR for horses and owners. Confidence Patience and Respect. The Arabian Horse World has just run an article on Tommy in their Feb issue. I know Tommy personally, I have worked with him in a couple of clinics. If he and I lived on the same side of the country, you can bet I'd be a regular at his barn for lessons. If i won the lottery tomorrow, I'd be sending my horses to him for training and marketing despite the fact he lives on the east coast. The man has integrity. (Since I did this post, I have come to change my opinion about Tommy Garland. His methods may be useful to the horse but I'm no longer sure that the man has integrity. It is possible to have the skills to be a good trainer but still not be a good human being. )

The whole fault with what is happening to show and race horses does not lie solely on the trainers. Owners are equally responsible. Owners pressure trainers to get the job done faster. They complain about what it costs to train a horse and they pressure trainers to win. Winning at all costs is not a thought process exclusive to trainers by any means. Many clients are just as driven and don't care about their horses.

The hard part of this issue is how do you control these kind of people and get them in check. Well, one place you can't fault the Arabian industry is for trying to make things better. You only have to look at our rule book to see that it is the biggest most complex thing in the darn industry. The reason is people wanting to make things better, leveling the playing field and protecting the horse. Now, whether or not they have been effective is another story. No matter how hard you try to stop the cheaters, they will find a way to cheat. That's for sure.

The only thing that I have seen over the years that has been effective at all is public opinion. When I first started showing, ginger was a way of life in the Arabian halter horse's life. It was illegal but everyone accepted it was done. But as people have gotten more outspoken about their oppostion to the use of ginger, it's use has diminshed. As more and more owners have ordered trainers NOT to use it on their horses, the trainers have backed off.

Now, I'm not saying that it's not used at all anymore. That probably won't happen until they find an effective test for it and for any other substances that have the same effect. BUT I am saying that every horse in the halter arena is not being gingered today. There are a considerable number of horses each year that are escaping that ritual because of public opinion. You can bet it matters to those horses that they don't have to deal with that burning sensation. The horses have outspoken individuals who were not afraid to stand up and be heard to thank for their relief. The day will come when ginger is no longer used on horses as long as public opinion continues to demand it.

The same can be true of any other issue the show and race horses face. As long as specifc abuses are kept in the forefront so public opinion can build and get organized against them, horses' lives will continue to benefit and quality of life will improve. Blogs and posts like this are a great starting point. If we can continue to build readership and built up our search engine stats you can bet we will be able to become a voice for the horse industry and effect change. It's already being done in the political arena, why not the horse industry? That part is up to you, the readers. Mark you favorite blogs. Comment on them, Share them with your friends. Let us know what you want to read about. Help us give the horses a voice.

I for one show my horses but I'm known for not necessarily getting them started in time to make junior horse classes. I have shown horses at halter, and will continue to do so, but I don't allow or tolerate any abuse of my horses. What I do with my Arabian horses is decided by the horse. If the horse has a halter attitude and loves to play on the end of the lead and strut etc, and needs the added stimulation of something to do, I might even show a young horse at halter.

Barbaro – One Woman’s Opinion

With the passing of Barbaro, the blog world has been abuzz with everything from great remorse and grief, to what’s all the fuss he was only a horse, to what’s wrong with you people, there are soldiers dying in Iraq.

I did a blog search yesterday, which resulted in over 70,000 links to blogs and other websites relating to Barbaro. While the writing frenzy about this great horse has slowed, it’s certainly not over.

I’m writing this piece to participate in a Horse Blog Carnival dedicated to Barbaro that will run next week on Bridlepath In addition to the blog carnival devoted to Barbaro, this blog has run many articles over the months since the horse’s first injury devoted to Barbaro.

There will certainly be many more such tributes and with those many more wondering why. His name will forever live in the annals of thoroughbred history whether some people get it or not.

As a member of the horse community, I understand the emotions of my colleagues. My fellow blogger, Every Rider and her blog Barbaro: Rest in Peace was just one of many tributes to the great horse expressing the sentiment of the horse community. A member of the MareStare community, h2opony did many posts over the duration of Barbaro’s illness including this compilation of links written after his death. These links includedBarbaro Gave it Ride of LIfetime and

Barbaro taught her about the love of sport followed by "Barbaro's Legacy...." and finally "Barbaro's ailment frustrates scientists." All of these sites and many, many more express the feelings of the horse community and the public at large.

On the other side of the coin (the coin being those people that don’t understand what the rest of us are grieving about) we have many differing viewpoints but all are wondering why. Some ask questions like Farwell to Our Four Legged Friends and others point fingers like Barbaro Was Just a Horse and still others were too downright offensive (either obscene or rude) to even consider linking them to this or any other civilized post.

I’m not going to repeat the views of my first post regarding Barbaro.
(You can find them at the bottom in this post about my Arabian twin foals.) But I am going to add to those comments since this whole faction of negativity towards the public’s reaction to this great horse’s accident, struggle and death makes me crazy.

I get that they don’t understand why the rest of us feel as we do about Barbaro, a horse or any horse. Even though there are plenty of pieces out there explaining our sentiments. It’s ok, they’re a little slow, or maybe the problem is that they are closed-minded. Whichever it is, if they don’t get it, it’s their problem.

What bothers me is the fact they think because we care this much about Barbaro that we DON’T care about the war in Iraq, the homeless, crime, drugs, illiteracy or any other social issues. Somehow they can’t get it into their heads it’s possible to care about a horse AND the war, the homeless, crime, drugs, illiteracy etc. Their thinking implies that caring for a horse must be exclusive - love a horse or love your fellow man. It’s not possible to do both.

While these critics point their fingers at us, insisting we lack social conscience, I wonder if they have considered how ridiculous their “all or nothing” This black or white approach sits high on the list of personality traits to overcome in the ten-step program for Alcoholics Anonymous. They call it “Stinking Thinking.” While the links I’ve placed here won’t show examples specific to the instances with these assignations against Barbaro supporters, the dichotomy of their assumptions clearly matches the behavior indicated. Unfortunately this type of thinking can make life pretty bleak. With it, you are caught in a trap. The deck is stacked against you. There is no hope.

We, horse people, know how flawed this thinking is. Many of us have friends or family members that have been to, are coming from, or in Iraq. We cover all socio-economic groups and we face life’s problems just like everyone else. We care about people AND horses down on their luck. We know that being able to give a piece of our heart to a horse, whether or not its a horse like Barbaro, is what gives us the strength and the courage to deal with all of life’s other issues. That it is not exclusive at all – The bigger your heart, the more you have to give. Caring about what happened to this magnificent horse made our hearts bigger. Barbaro inspired us!

Reflections of Foaling Season 2006 - The Twins Part 8

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Standing there looking at the twins in the oversize intensive care stall made them look so much smaller than they had looked at home. This was the same stall that Vee had been in when she was about Surprise’s age. She had spiked a fever and was rushed to intensive care with her mother and all kinds of tests were run. They never did find any explanation for her fever but kept her in intensive care for 3 days for observation. Her fever ended as mysteriously as it started and she was sent home.

Maybe the reason the Arabian mare was so comfortable with all of the commotion and such of the hospital now was because she had been through it herself as a foal. Whatever the reason, Vee was totally relaxed and her calmness reflected in her foals. Both settled in like they’d be born there other than Trouble was nursing a little more than usual to comfort himself. But that seemed to do the trick, he showed no other signs of stress. At least that was going our way; stressed foals with diarrhea would have really complicated an already difficult situation.

While the docs were working on Surprise, Trouble approached his mom to nurse. She warned him off. He ignored her so she barred her teeth and snapped at him which sent him scurrying to the corner.

The docs immediately jumped to the conclusion that Vee didn’t really want two foals and prepared to take him away. I was glad I was still there to intercede. I explained the dynamics that were developing between the colt and the mare with Surprise’s illness and also how the mare would warn the colt off from nursing if she had no milk.

They watched the mare closely still concerned that she didn’t want to mother two foals. It didn’t take them long to see that what I had told them was correct. The mare was protecting the filly by keeping the colt away from her when Suprise was down. And remarkably, she was saving milk for the filly. Once the docs let Surprise nurse, then Vee willingly let Trouble nurse.

They were encouraged by the fact that the mare was protecting the filly. Normally mares of very sick foals will abandon their babies. The fact that Vee was so vested in protecting Surprise told them that Vee expected the filly to survive. This conclusion was shared by me but not by the vets at this time.

They continued on with blood draws and ultrasounds of her kidneys and liver and I don’t even remember what else. They were checking her IGG scores again to confirm but were pretty sure they were going to transfuse her in the morning. They also did tests to check her hydration levels. They duplicated many of the tests on Trouble to use him for a baseline since they had no reliable baseline for healthy twins.

Once they had finished all of the procedures and I felt that the three were safely settled in and there was no more threat that they were going to take Trouble away from his mother, Lilli and I went off to lunch while we waited for test results.

By the time we had returned the twins had everyone in the vet hospital wrapped around their little hooves. Surprise had awoken from the tranquilizer she had been given. The two foals were playing together while the mare contently munched her hay listening to the laughs and giggles of the staff.

Most of the tests had been concluded with better results than the docs had expected. The filly was properly hydrated and wouldn’t require IV fluids. Her liver and kidneys looked normal in the ultra sounds but her liver enzymes were elevated. Heart, respiration, suck reflex, and so on were all good. The only real evidence the filly was sick was the enlarged umbilicus, the eleveated liver enzymes and those two enlarged veins and arteries inside. The IGG results wouldn’t be back until morning so there was still the possibility that they would transfuse her. There were Angular Limb Deformities assessed but it was decided they could better be addressed once the filly was out of the woods.

The staff had seen enough of Vee’s behavior by now to be comfortable that my assessment of her as a mother was correct. She did indeed love both of her babies and her mothering skills were far better than anyone could have hoped for in any mare, let alone a maiden in this situation. There was no longer any threat of them splitting up this family. It was safe for me to go home.

It seemed really strange to leave them behind. They had been such an intensive part of my life since the mare’s labor that my every waking thought and most of my snoozing thoughts were about them. It was like leaving part of myself behind. Surprise and Trouble were in the best possible hands they could be in. If anything went wrong, they would be better prepared to deal with it, than I was. The only good thing about it for me was I would be able to get some sleep for the first time in a week.

To be continued...
Part 9

Thoughts on Barbaro: yesterday I didn't hear about Barbaro until I had finished my post. I can't help but feel a great heaviness in my heart for the loss of this great horse and how his owners must be feeling.

While the circumstances surrounding my twins were different than Barbaro's the commitments are the same. I know what it is like to invest your heart and soul into saving a beloved horse. I also know what it's like to do that and lose, even though that has not been the case with the twins.

It's been frustrating to see all of the negative things that have been written stating "he's just a horse!" I feel sorry for those people that they don't have the capacity to understand what a horse like Barbaro, and for that matter even my twins, can give to the world.

In these trying times, the hope that springs from hearing of the great stength and courage of Barbaro even against the greatest odds is truly a gift. I know from emails and letters that the twins story has had a perfound impact on some people. If my little twins can do that, I can only imagine to what extent a great horse like Barbaro can impact the world. Even though Barbaro did not survive, the determination of his fight is most certainly a great legacy.

Barbaro: Rest in Peace