I Now Pronounce You Barbaro And Wife

It’s been a while since Barbaro won the Kentucky Derby, broke his leg in the Preakness and then died and rose again on the third day. But that hasn’t stopped people from continuing to obsess over him:

It was mid-summer, the church looked gorgeous, and family and friends dotted the premises. But as Shannon Barbour stood at the altar next to her husband-to-be, she started “zoning out.” While the priest spoke, Barbour turned her attention to the pretty murals adorning the church walls.

“They were so beautiful that I just started thinking about Barbaro and wondering what he was doing, how he was, what the updates were I was missing,” she said.

Experiencing an emotional high from seeing so many loved ones in attendance, Barbour decided to say a long prayer for the horse that kept racing through her mind. After the wedding festivities had died down, Barbour felt it necessary to cancel her honeymoon.

“I couldn’t bear to be anywhere else but near the computer where I could check on” Barbaro, she said. “It sounds crazy, but literally every minute of the day I’m thinking about that horse.”

Ah. Wha. I. Sh. Ai. Aldm. Qu. Wik.

Sorry, there, folks, my brain just imploded. Let’s get this back together. I don’t know who Daily Pennsylvanian Uri Friedman is, but he has a future in this business. His article today details the Barbaro Maniacs, a group of Barbaro fans who gather on the website of trainer Tim Wooley to talk about Barbaro and pray that he’s okay.

How devoted are they? Well, there are currently 844 updates on Barbaro’s condition on the website. One Barbaro Maniac quoted in the story was drawn to Barbaro because her mother suffered an ankle injury and had a five-hour surgery a few weeks after Barbaro’s break in the Preakness.

Also similar to Barbaro, if the she was in too much pain after the surgery, doctors were going to kill her.

The group isn’t just in love with Barbaro. They sent fruit baskets to a horse battling cancer, and — in something more up my alley — planned a surprise party for a horse trainer who suffered brain damage in an accident. (And it isn’t just the Barbaro Maniacs. Schoolchildren sent letters to Barbaro, as you probably know, including one that began: “Dear Barbaro, I don’t even know if you read English.”

So what’s special about the horse? According to one Barbaro Maniac, he’s downright divine:

“I don’t know if you’ve seen a picture of” Barbaro, Barbaro Maniac Carol Nichols, from Pennsylvania, said. “It’s almost like he’s been here before and knows more than we do when you look into his eyes. � I think he’s here for a reason, to bring people together. I think it was God’s will to be perfectly honest with you.” [...]

Some of the Barbaro Maniacs hold a nightly online vigil for the colt on AOL, while others light virtual candles for him at greatfulness.org, a Web site that allows people to express thankfulness for something, on a regular basis.

The Maniacs have even gotten into the habit of taking a moment to send Barbaro get-well wishes every second Saturday at 7 in the evening.

As for Barbour’s husband, it is usually in his best interest to think about the horse more frequently.

“He knows now that when he comes home from work, if he doesn’t ask how Barbaro is, he isn’t going to get his dinner,” Barbour said.

Ai. Urk. Ah. @(@#$&^#($&#)@!)(!#)*&(*$@HFLILYFUIHNFDK ALKJP@ AAARGH

‘Colt’ of personality surrounds star horse [Daily Pennsylvanian]
Barbaro Updates 842-844 [Tim Wooley Racing]
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