Kennett Square, Pa. – Barbaro was on his feet Monday in his 12-by-12 stall, and that’s where he will be for the next few days, the next few weeks and probably the next few months.
With a fiberglass cast on his right hind leg and a staff of veterinarians keeping a 24-hour watch, standing around is the best thing – the only thing – the stricken Kentucky Derby winner can do.
A day after surgeons spent more than five hours pinning together the leg bones he shattered in the Preakness on Saturday, the 3-year-old colt was adjusting to his new life as a rehab patient.
“He got through the night very well. Day one and into day two is going as well as expected,” said Dr. Corinne Sweeney, executive hospital director at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center. “He is standing on the leg, and with the appropriate amount of weight on it.”
Barbaro also showed interest in a few mares nearby. “He’s acting like a young colt should,” she said.
Despite the good initial reports, doctors cautiously have given Barbaro a 50-50 chance for survival.
“He’s doing exactly what the doctor wants, but he’s got a long way to go,” Sweeney said. “A lot of possible problems that could occur have not.”
Barbaro’s appetite has been fine and his vital signs are good, Sweeney said.
Barbaro was the odds-on favorite to win the Preakness and set up a Triple Crown try in the Belmont Stakes. But a few hundred yards out of the starting gate, he took a bad step, his leg flared out grotesquely and he veered sideways before jockey Edgar Prado pulled the powerful colt to a halt. Later that night he was vanned to New Bolton, and surgery lasted most of the afternoon Sunday.
As Barbaro embarks on the risky path to recovery, there are two immediate concerns: infection and preventing laminitis, an often-fatal disease sometimes brought on by uneven weight balance. The colt has been receiving antibiotics and pain medication, and is able to move around – or even lay down – in his stall if he chooses.
Barbaro suffered a broken cannon bone above the ankle, a broken sesamoid bone behind the ankle and a broken long pastern bone below the ankle. The fetlock joint – the ankle – was dislocated.
Dr. Dean Richardson, who performed the five-plus hour surgery with a team of assistants, said the pastern bone was shattered in “20-plus pieces.” The bones were put in place to fuse the joint by inserting a plate and 23 screws to repair damage so severe, most horses wouldn’t have survived it.
