Barbaro's Racehorse Career

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Racehorses On May 20, 2006, Barbaro ran in the Preakness Stakes as the favorite, but after Barbaro started at the wrong time, he cracked three bones in and around the ankle of his right hind leg. The damage any stopped any chance of a Triple Crown win in 2006, and it ended his racehorse career. On May 21, he endured operation at the New Bolton Center at the University of Pennsylvania for his leg’s damages. In July he got laminitis in his left back leg. He had five extra operations, and his diagnosis changed as he stayed for an extremely long time in the equine Intensive Care Unit. Though his right leg finally cured, a last surgery on it was useless for the colt had rapidly established more laminitis in both of his front legs. His owners and …show more content…

Most injuries are smaller, but some are more dangerous than others. There are countless reasons for this problem. First of all, horse racing can be dangerous to young horses because their bones are not all fully formed when they start their racing careers. Sometimes horses break legs (like Barbaro). That happens when weight goes down on one leg as the horse is flying down the racetrack. Also, a horse’s bones are not formed completely until it is about 5-6 years old, and trainers usually start racing them at around 2 years old. Typically, a horse in training would not have a rider on its back until about the horse is about 4 years old. Some problems are with the breeding of these horses. Racehorses are mainly bred for speed, not for bone strength. Also, if you trace back to the horse’s ancestors many of the horses are known for breaking down. For example, many horses related to Northern Dancer break down. A lot of horses are inbred which means that it’s father and mother have a same ancestor. Farmer Jack, a racehorse who was thought to win the 2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup, died of a heart attack a couple of days before the race. He was of a mostly flat racing bloodline having been inbred 4 x 4 to Northern Dancer. (This means that looking at his father’s and mother’s side, Northern Dancer is related 4 groups

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