Horses that suffer from injuries much less severe than those of Barbaro?s can race again, a horse expert said.
“Horses come back all the time,” said Lenny Shulman, a features editor with The Blood-Horse, a weekly magazine for owners and breeders of thoroughbreds based in Lexington, Ky.
“Stevie Wonderboy, a horse owned by talk show host Merv Griffin, was injured and is hopefully coming back this summer.”
Griffin?s horse suffered an injury to his right ankle in February and did not race in the Kentucky Derby as many had expected the 2-year-old colt to do.
Shulman said horses can experience a wide range of injuries, from a simple fracture to the catastrophic injury suffered by Barbaro to his right hind leg.
“It could be a simple fracture in a bone that isn?t quite as crucial to weight bearing,” Shulman said.
But depending on the severity of the injury, horses may need rest, surgery or a combination of the two or may have to be put down, he said.
Chips, small flakes of bone that dislodge in a horse?s leg, are an example of injuries that aren?t considered severe, said Shulman.
“[Doctors] remove the chips during surgery, and in a matter of time, they come back,” he said.
But that?s not the case with Barbaro. Doctors said the Kentucky Derby winner will never race again. However, racing experts said if his recovery continues to go well, he could generate millions in stud fees forhis owners, Gretchen and Roy Jackson.
Shulman said Ruffian, a high-profile horse during the 1970s, experienced an injury similar to Barbaro?s, but was put down.
“Unfortunately, medical science wasn?t quite [that advanced],” he said.
Brooke Gunning, author of the book “Maryland Thoroughbred Racing,” said Barbaro?s recovery could still be up in the air.
“He?s got to be careful,” she said.
Dr. Dean Richardson, the surgeon who performed the five-hour operation on Barbaro, said Tuesday that the horse was doing well two days after surgery.
The horse?s assistants reported that Barbaro stood in his stall and scratched his left ear with his left hind leg after five hours of surgery Sunday.
The AP contributed to this story.
