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Barbaro Anonymous
2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was euthanized early this morning. He has been a fighter for the past eight months since his injury in the Preakness stakes, and this is the end of the road for him. The whole racing world is in shock, though no one is necessarily surprised (few horses survive that kind of injury)
>> Anonymous
horses are a total pain in the ass to care for.
>> Anonymous
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Have you seen what the Breyer Barbaros are going for on ebay today? Friggin $400 for a $38 model
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
I wonder how much his corpse will fetch for sashimi
>> Anonymous
It's the glue factory for you!
>> Anonymous
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Commentary about Barbaro from an all-knowing sports columnist with the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/la-sp-simers30jan30,1,4331430.column?coll=la-headli
nes-sports-columnists&ctrack=1&cset=true

My counterpoint:

I was not one of the emo crowd who cried when I heard Barbaro was dead. I was sorry he was put down. I am glad he no longer suffers. I wondered how his owners and jockey were feeling. I can relate to their attachment to him even though I personally did not have a strong attachment to him. I am not saying he wasn't a great horse. It just was not personal for me. I can understand how devastated his owners and jockey must feel not because of the loss of "breeding stock" but because of a relationship with a living being. As far as knowing exactly when to put him down I think it is very hard to sit this far away and be able to speculate when the "right time" was. I have no personal experience like this with a horse but I can tell you as a nurse I have seen people hang onto patients who had no chance of any substantial quality of life outside of a miracle. But I did not criticize them because I understand how hard it is to give up hope despite dismal circumstances when it is somebody you love.

Here are two pictures that say a lot to me about why extraordinary measures were taken to try and save this colt. Look at the relationship between this horse and this jockey. I feel his pain today.
>> Anonymous
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Okay, I lie, sitting here looking at the pictures of Barbaro interacting with his jockey did bring tears. I am now going to walk in the moonlight to the barn and give my horse a hug.
>> Anonymous
>>60560

Hopefully not before they *cough* milk his balls dry to cover the medical expenses involved.
>> Anonymous
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They couldn't use his sperm for artificial insemination for a TB racehorse. It's not allowed. They could breed for cross country. But he was bred to race.