Barbaro suffers significant setback in recovery

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) _ So many months of promising recovery had Barbaro close to leaving the hospital that's been his home for nearly eight months. <br/><br/>Now the Kentucky Derby winner has to

Thursday, January 11th 2007, 8:53 am

By: News On 6

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) _ So many months of promising recovery had Barbaro close to leaving the hospital that's been his home for nearly eight months.

Now the Kentucky Derby winner has to pull through like a champ again after he suffered a significant setback because of laminitis _ a painful, often fatal disease _ in his left hind foot.

Co-owner Gretchen Jackson said Thursday that Barbaro was not in pain, feeling better and had a ``decent night.''

``He was doing well,'' Jackson said. ``They're being aggressive in treating it. It think it makes it sound worse than it is.''

Chief surgeon Dean Richardson removed damaged tissue from the hoof, and afterward the bay colt was placed in a protective sling in his ICU stall at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center. Barbaro has been rehabilitating here since shattering three bones in his right hind leg just a few strides into the Preakness on May 20.

The news came as a jolt, especially since his owners Gretchen and Roy Jackson and Richardson recently said they were hopeful the colt would be released from the hospital, perhaps by the end of the month.

``We are reminded that the horse has a very serious condition that could rear its ugly head off and on,'' Jackson said Thursday. I'm concerned all the time. I've been concerned since May. They say he's dealing with it. He's not in pain. He's OK.''

Barbaro was in stable condition, according to a statement released Wednesday morning by New Bolton. The tissue was removed Tuesday night, a week after a new cast was put on the leg.

Barbaro had become uncomfortable on his left hind foot in recent days and the cast was removed after some new separation on the inside portion of his hoof was found.

Dr. Scott Morrison, who applied the cast on Jan. 3, called the latest development ``a bump in the road'' and said Barbaro ``can possibly overcome it.

``When a horse tries to grow back an entire hoof capsule like Barbaro is, complications are expected along the way,'' added Morrison, the head of podiatry service at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky. ``While the foot is growing back, there is some wall structure and tissue that becomes compromised along the way and has to be removed.''

Though Morrison wasn't present at New Bolton when Richardson removed the loose tissue, he believes Barbaro's condition has not regressed or gone ``back to square one.''

``But I wouldn't say the prognosis is good for the foot,'' he cautioned. ``It's still grim. He still has to grow a hoof wall for his prognosis to improve. There's still a long road ahead.''

Gretchen Jackson brought Barbaro fresh grass and said the colt's appearance was ``not as bright'' when she saw him Wednesday morning. But, she said, the colt had visibly improved later in the day when her husband, Roy, visited.

The cast change could have caused some inflammation, said Dr. Kathleen Anderson, Barbaro's attending vet when the horse was racing and stabled in trainer Michael Matz's barn at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md.

Anderson said Barbaro has proved he was strong enough to overcome his latest medical obstacle.

``We all know most horses don't get this far,'' she said. ``The bottom line with Barbaro is the fractured leg is the one that would have been the end of most horses. He won't be getting to the big green field any time soon, but I don't think this is insurmountable.''

After his injury in the Preakness, Barbaro developed severe laminitis, a potentially fatal disease caused by uneven weight distribution in the limbs. The result was that 80 percent of his left hind hoof was removed in mid July.

Just over a week ago, Richardson said Barbaro's right hind was getting stronger and should eventually be healthy enough to allow the colt to live a comfortable, happy life.

But he also warned: ``Barbaro's left hind foot, which had laminitis, remains a more formidable long-term challenge. The foot must grow much more for him to have a truly successful outcome.''

Still, the Jacksons and Richardson remained optimistic Barbaro could be on a Kentucky farm by the end of January.

The disease, called laminitis or founder, involves inflammation and structural damage to tissue that bonds the horse's bone to the inner wall of the hoof.