Post by fancyhorse on Dec 13, 2006 23:17:37 GMT -5
Surgeon: Barbaro could be released soon
Story Tools:
Print Email Blog This
Associated Press
Posted: 16 minutes ago
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) - Barbaro's surgeon said the Kentucky Derby winner
could be released from the hospital "in the not so distant future."
Dean Richardson, chief surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania's New
Bolton Center, declined to offer a timetable for the horse's release.
"His departure from here depends on many things. In my mind's eye, he can
leave in the not so distant future," Richardson said Wednesday.
Richardson, who has been cautious in his updates since Barbaro was admitted
for what doctors described as "life-threatening injuries," continued to
sound optimistic Wednesday, saying the horse is still making good progress.
He said Barbaro's weight fluctuates, but that is common with hospitalized
horses. He said the colt's appetite, vital signs and blood work are good and
that the horse's coat "looks beautiful."
"As soon as we believe he can be managed as well somewhere else, he will go
somewhere else," Richardson said.
The surgeon spoke as the center accepted a $114,710 check from a company
that makes model plastic horses. The company also unveiled a 1/9-scale model
of Barbaro.
The horse has been at New Bolton since breaking down at the Preakness in
May. He also later developed a severe case of laminitis in his left hind
foot.
"Right now, things are going really well and he's a happy horse," Richardson
said, adding that the horse's left hind foot remains in a bandage and the
fracture in his right hind foot has healed but needs a special shoe. "He
will not be allowed any kind of free exercise for a long time."
Doctors have said that Barbaro will never race again, but that they were
working to save his life and possibly preserve him as a stallion. His
breeding future, however, remains uncertain.
"We haven't asked him at this point to jump a mare. We don't even know yet
if the horse is fertile," Richardson said Wednesday. "That's great if he
ends up being a breeding stallion. ... That's icing on the cake if we get
that far."
Breyer, a New Jersey-based company that makes figurine horses, announced
Wednesday that it had made and sold 11,471 models of Barbaro and was
donating more than $114,000 of the proceeds to the New Bolton Center, a
large animal hospital in suburban Philadelphia.
The models, about a foot long and 8 inches high, were sold directly off the
company's Web site and to retailers, said Anthony Fleischmann, president of
Reeves International Inc., Breyer's parent company. They sell for $40 to $50
at retail.
The company, which also has made models of other famous horses including
Seabiscuit, Seattle Slew and Misty, first started talking about making a
Barbaro model after he won the Kentucky Derby. Officials then decided to
continue with the plans after the colt broke down at the Preakness,
Fleischmann said.
Gretchen Jackson, one of Barbaro's owners, said she hopes the donation helps
lead to advances that may lead to cures for conditions like laminitis.
"Hopefully there will be an answer to what causes laminitis and how to
prevent it and how to cure it," Jackson said.
---
On the Net:
Breyer: www.breyerhorses.com
New Bolton Center: www.vet.upenn.edu/nbc/
Story Tools:
Print Email Blog This
Associated Press
Posted: 16 minutes ago
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) - Barbaro's surgeon said the Kentucky Derby winner
could be released from the hospital "in the not so distant future."
Dean Richardson, chief surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania's New
Bolton Center, declined to offer a timetable for the horse's release.
"His departure from here depends on many things. In my mind's eye, he can
leave in the not so distant future," Richardson said Wednesday.
Richardson, who has been cautious in his updates since Barbaro was admitted
for what doctors described as "life-threatening injuries," continued to
sound optimistic Wednesday, saying the horse is still making good progress.
He said Barbaro's weight fluctuates, but that is common with hospitalized
horses. He said the colt's appetite, vital signs and blood work are good and
that the horse's coat "looks beautiful."
"As soon as we believe he can be managed as well somewhere else, he will go
somewhere else," Richardson said.
The surgeon spoke as the center accepted a $114,710 check from a company
that makes model plastic horses. The company also unveiled a 1/9-scale model
of Barbaro.
The horse has been at New Bolton since breaking down at the Preakness in
May. He also later developed a severe case of laminitis in his left hind
foot.
"Right now, things are going really well and he's a happy horse," Richardson
said, adding that the horse's left hind foot remains in a bandage and the
fracture in his right hind foot has healed but needs a special shoe. "He
will not be allowed any kind of free exercise for a long time."
Doctors have said that Barbaro will never race again, but that they were
working to save his life and possibly preserve him as a stallion. His
breeding future, however, remains uncertain.
"We haven't asked him at this point to jump a mare. We don't even know yet
if the horse is fertile," Richardson said Wednesday. "That's great if he
ends up being a breeding stallion. ... That's icing on the cake if we get
that far."
Breyer, a New Jersey-based company that makes figurine horses, announced
Wednesday that it had made and sold 11,471 models of Barbaro and was
donating more than $114,000 of the proceeds to the New Bolton Center, a
large animal hospital in suburban Philadelphia.
The models, about a foot long and 8 inches high, were sold directly off the
company's Web site and to retailers, said Anthony Fleischmann, president of
Reeves International Inc., Breyer's parent company. They sell for $40 to $50
at retail.
The company, which also has made models of other famous horses including
Seabiscuit, Seattle Slew and Misty, first started talking about making a
Barbaro model after he won the Kentucky Derby. Officials then decided to
continue with the plans after the colt broke down at the Preakness,
Fleischmann said.
Gretchen Jackson, one of Barbaro's owners, said she hopes the donation helps
lead to advances that may lead to cures for conditions like laminitis.
"Hopefully there will be an answer to what causes laminitis and how to
prevent it and how to cure it," Jackson said.
---
On the Net:
Breyer: www.breyerhorses.com
New Bolton Center: www.vet.upenn.edu/nbc/
