Filly DOWN in Kentucky Derby

[lizbud]

The vet on call for yesterday's race gave the techical summation of the injuries that EB suffered.

She broke both ankles, on one side the condyle broke and the other she suffered a sesamoid fracture.

The condyle is the end part of a bone and the sesamoids are the group of small bones that make up the ankle. Humans have teh same kind of bones in their legs

Grab your ankle and feel the two bumps that stick out on either side. The break occured in between those bumps on one side and lower down, in the sesamoid bones on the other.

Thanks Richard, this does help explain this injury.

I tend to believe it's genetics & inbreeding that causes many flaws in
bone structure & breeding for speed. I just wish they hadn't pushed her
so hard down the last 1/4 mile ,just to place 2nd and die.

[Giselle]

I don't really know how to comment, except that I've read a similar article to the one posted before about Native Dancer. It's a tough question of ethics and morality, IMO. It's pervasive in all animal husbandry. Purebred dogs have an exorbitant amount of health problems, many of which are specific to certain breeds. I believe there was a sobering statistic of 25% of ex-racing greyhounds developing osteosarcoma. And hip dysplasia anyone? Purebred cats are not exempt, either. It's not surprising that racing thoroughbreds have the same problems. It's a difficult question with no clear answer and no single person to blame besides, maybe, ourselves.


...Or maybe I'm just feeling really emo right now

[RICHARD]

Thanks Richard, this does help explain this injury.

I tend to believe it's genetics & inbreeding that causes many flaws in
bone structure & breeding for speed. I just wish they hadn't pushed her
so hard down the last 1/4 mile ,just to place 2nd and die.

The breaks were also displaced fractures.

DF means that the bones were not "in line" after the injury.

Breaking bones is a real trip- I don't know enough about horse skeletal anatomy but those were bad injuries to an animal that depends on their legs for everyday movement...Even the on-call vet said that he had never seen a horse get injured that badly before.

There are pins, plates and screws that are used to put bones back together well enough for humans, but if the owner had tried a "Barbaro" approach to keeping the horse alive - it would have had the same result. And if there had been a way to save the poor thing you were looking at repeated surgeries, therapy and a 50/50 shance that it would ever stand, let alone run again.

At the least this will make the equine community wake up to the fact that they are sabotaging their own "sport". The last thing they need is horses breaking down at every major event.

Would Barbaro and Eight Belle's deaths be in vain if it caused the horse racing community to wake up and "smell the roses?"

I believe that tragedies will always be remembered as such - if we don't learn a lesson from them- if we can keep other horses alive it's a start in a right direction.