:: HorsesDiaries.com ::

In another troubling setback, Barbaro underwent his second
medical procedure in the past month, to treat a bruise and
abscess on the right hind leg which he shattered in the
2006 Preakness Stakes.

Barbaro’s laminitis-stricken left hind foot, until
Saturday, had been the focus of concern for his doctor Dean
Richardson, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, and owners Roy and Gretchen
Jackson. He had seemed to be recovering well from having
80% of the hoof removed last July, but earlier this month
had to undergo a surgery to cut the tendon attached to the
coffin bone and relieve pressure on the hoof.

Barbaro was fitted with an orthotic brace on the right hind
foot, both to support the hoof and allow his handlers
access to the area of the drained abscess.

While neither of the problems in Barbaro’s hind legs, when
taken separately, is, according to Gretchen Jackson,
life-threatening, they are, in combination, cause for
serious concern. Dr. Richardson has, from the time he
began caring for Barbaro, said that the colt had a sharply
uphill battle ahead, and it appears that he has yet to
reach its summit.

And, while the U.S. horse community is being confronted
with the issues of the U.S. Horse Slaughter Bill and,
should it pass, finding alternatives to care for the
estimate 90,000 horses sent to slaughter each year, the
Saddlebred Rescue group, which found homes for some one
hundred animals in 2006, is asking for help.

The group normally gets its horses at auction, but they are
sold without papers. Christy Parker and pat Johnson,
members of Saddlebred Rescue, say that, if the animals
could be properly identified, they would qualify as show
horses, and their chances of adoption would be vastly
improved.

So Saddlebred Rescue, by posting photos of its rescue
horses on its website, is reaching out to all Saddlebred
owners, breeders, and trainers, hoping that anyone who
recognizes any of the animals will contact them with that
horse’s date of birth, pedigree, and, if any, performance
history.

Saddlebred Rescue is saving some beautiful animals from
slaughter, and offers some in-depth descriptions of
them—including their temperaments and way of going when put
under saddle after who-know-what kind of treatment in their
pasts.

Because the organization is constantly rescuing new
horses–sometimes as many as five a week–they ask that
those who might be able to help visit their website at
www.saddlebredrescue.com/identify.html to look over the
photos on a regular basis.

If the U.S. Horse Slaughter Bill passes, there will be
thousands of animals needing care, and organizations like
Saddlebred Rescue certainly deserve all the support they
can get!

Here are some of the latest Barbaro pictures: