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Barbaro's Condition Becomes Worse
For the past 10 days, as Barbaro's promise for recovery spiraled after six relatively smooth weeks, Richardson focused on an infection that developed in the pastern joint of the colt's injured right hind leg.
Most of the bones fractured in the Preakness have healed since the surgery the day after the race, but on Saturday, Richardson changed six screws in the region that connects the long and short pastern bones, applied two new titanium plates and attempted to clean out the infection.
 Barbaro has an acute case of laminitis, which has left only 20 percent of his left hind hoof connected to the cannon bone. (Sabina Louise Pierce - AP)
VIDEO | Doctor Dean Richardson describes Barbaro's chances for survival.
BEAUTY AND FRAGILITY Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro is euthanized after an eight-month struggle to recover from an injured leg. Andrew Beyer: We were all robbed of a potential legend on and off the track. Sally Jenkins: Some felt as if they knew Barbaro, and this is surely their cause of grief over his death. Appreciation: This was an exceptional horse that didn't know what it meant not to keep on trying. Time Line: See what happened every step of the way. Photos: A special patient. Video: A champion that persevered. |
At the time, the surgeon mentioned an abscess that had formed in Barbaro's left hind hoof, but by Wednesday that condition had grown far worse.
"There's no book you go to that says, 'This is laminitis 101,' " Richardson said. "We are not doing anything outrageous on this horse."
Yet, Richardson said, the New Bolton Center has been besieged with offers of help and ideas on how to treat Barbaro.
"Nobody who called Doctor Richardson offering any of these things had anywhere near the experience he has," said Larry Bramlage, a surgeon at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, who diagnosed Barbaro's fractures in the aftermath of the Preakness. "The thing is, the number of supplements and special healing aids out there that have no scientific evidence that they help is huge."
While Barbaro is watched around the clock, his future is not being determined on a minute-by-minute basis, Richardson said.
"But it could certainly happen within a day or two," he said of a decision to euthanize the horse. "I mean, today the horse looks very good."
