Breaking: Barbaro’s Situation ‘Bleak’

I just finished watching a way-too-long press conference about Barbaro, and here’s the scoop: Barbaro had part of his hoof removed after he developed laminitis, which is when the hoof detaches from the bone. (I think.)

Basically, Barbaro had part of his hoof wall removed, and his doctors are hoping he’s going to be able to regrow it. (Neat!) Dean Richardson, Barbaro’s chief of surgery, said that regrowing a hoof is “just like the way we would re-grow a nail.”

Richardson also said this is one of most “catastrophic” cases of laminitis he’s ever seen. (Gasp!) Basically, it seemed like Barbaro was going to make it a few weeks ago, but because he shifted his weight too much on his good (left) hind leg to distract from his broken right leg, he developed the condition.

Richardson, who’s about the most totally awesome vet in the world, said that if the laminitis “were to develop it in another foot, we will not continue.” He also said it would take five-to-six months at a minimum for the hoof wall to regrow. They could, however, decide in the next 24 hours to euthanize him.

The money quote of the event is, however, this one from Richardson: “I don’t want people to think Terri Schiavo or anything… we are not torturing this horse. I guarantee there is no veterinarian out there who wants to inflict pain on animals.”

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