Barbaro Injury Highlights Need for Laminitis Research Funding

By Rustin M. Moore, DVM on behalf of the AAEP Foundation, Inc.

As viewers around the world watched Barbaro pull up after the start of the 2006 Preakness Stakes, it was apparent to even the casual racing fan that the Kentucky

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By Rustin M. Moore, DVM on behalf of the AAEP Foundation, Inc.


As viewers around the world watched Barbaro pull up after the start of the 2006 Preakness Stakes, it was apparent to even the casual racing fan that the Kentucky Derby winner had suffered a serious injury. Veterinary examinations later revealed multiple life-threatening fractures to Barbaro’s right hind leg. His quest for the Triple Crown turned into a fight for his life, bringing much public attention to the fragility of horses’ legs and feet.
 
From the outset of treatment, Barbaro’s doctors emphasized that the colt’s recovery would be dependent upon the successful healing of his bone fractures as well as the prevention of laminitis in his opposite healthy leg. This fear of laminitis was realized seven weeks later, when it was announced that Barbaro had developed the disease in his left hind foot. The silent killer that affects horses around the globe was now a severe complication in Barbaro’s otherwise excellent recovery.


Despite the marvelous veterinary progress made in equine surgery, anesthesia, and the design and development of state-of-the-art implants for fracture repair, the ultimate outcome for horses with life-threatening injuries often depends upon effectively treating, and ideally preventing, laminitis.


Laminitis, sometimes referred to as “founder,” is a severely debilitating, tremendously painful disease of the soft tissues (laminae) that connect the hoof wall (the outer part of the hoof that you see) to the coffin bone (the skeletal bone that exists inside the hoof). Laminitis typically develops in either both front feet (most common), all four feet, or in the foot opposite to a limb with a severe injury or infection

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Written by:

Rustin M. Moore, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, is a professor of equine surgery and Director of the Equine Health Studies Program at Louisiana State University’s School of Veterinary Medicine.

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