Kind of an extreme reason to put down a horse !

[dwight.j.carter]

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24458076/

So why can't a horse be nursed back to health after breaking it's legs ?
I am confused by this and am by no means an animal rights activist.

So why aren't we putting down the people that break there legs lol ?

[CIWS]

http://www.slate.com/id/2142159/

[dwight.j.carter]

Ok well that explains it better for me thanks man.

[urbanski]

look at the hell Barbaro went through due to selfish owners trying to "nurse" him back. dont work.

[CadillacSTS2003sgurl]

Yeah, I was watching the Derby with Jason's dad. So sad to see Eight Bells end her career that way. I would have love to see her beat Big Brown at the Preakness Stakes. Just damn she was fast for a filly...

[dkozloski]

They shoot horses don't they? Every old time Vet had a revolver in his little bag.

[caddycruiser]

Originally Posted by dkozloski

They shoot horses don't they? Every old time Vet had a revolver in his little bag.

No, that's one way, but not overly common, if it can be avoided. Putting to sleep, as dogs and cats are, with an injection, is the typical.

In this case, it was a HORRIFIC thing that happened, especially being that the race just ended, the horse fell, and within a couple of minutes--while some didn't know and others were celebrating--the vets came and put it to sleep immediately.

It seems extreme, and I'm always disturbed by it, but that's an innate problem with horses. They weight so much and stand almost ALL the time, that if there's any kind of leg injury, it's next to impossible to ever nurse it back to health. There's no way to keep them from putting weight on it, and even if they could avoid it, then they run into issues of not being active and not getting exercise.

This case was particularly bizarre, as both front ankles literally snapped--out of the blue. The bigger problem is, of course, how much they're stressed to the max in these races (which I'm not a fan of...), however uncommon something like this is.

[urbanski]

yeah she was beautiful and fast as hell, for sure. RIP.

[urbanski]

thats why its called a coffin bone

[caddycruiser]

Originally Posted by urbanski

thats why its called a coffin bone

I had never heard that, but after a Google, SO true.

Watching the news tonight, one of their points was about certain problems that carry on through breeding, notable in this case being leg problems that the father and grandfather of this horse apparently had. Sad, just really sad. That's racing for you, which is debatable, for sure.