Re: 6 Minutes prior to post in the Preakness... (683 Views)
Posted by:
sighthound (IP Logged)
Date: May 23, 2006 04:15PM
>> as was the one that mentioned the "nuclear scan" (don't remember the >>technical name of the device). That thing is a godsend-- if you suspect a horse has a problem (in my case by looking at the sheet) but can't find it, you have him scanned, and "hot spots" light up.
Nuclear scintigraphy. Extremely valuable for finding "potential problems" in horses in work, it does indeed "light up" hotspots - before they show any sign of lameness. This goes to the microfractures that normally occur with bone remodeling during training, and the condylar fractures discussed. You need bone remodeling - that's what builds stronger bone.
In Barbaro you have a horse that was bred and trained "the right way" for the classics - he didn't do 10 and 3 at 18 months in a training sale (I wish the 2-year-olds in training sales would go away). He had tons of long, slow distance gallops to build endurance and strong bone (longer than most, look at his training regimine), appropriate speed work (speed kills), was raced early on turf (more forgiving than dirt), plenty of turnout time and grass gallops at Fair Hill, raised naturally in a field by his breeders for longer than most running with other young colts (builds strong bone and agility, athletic ability), didn't get pumped up with Winstrol to be muscled up for a successful sale as a yearling, was bred for distance and endurance....
A horse takes one bad, uneven step - theres a little fracture through a sesamoid, or through the edge of the condyle. Now the suspensory ligament is compromised (with the sesamoid), or the supporting structure of the leg isn't 100% (with the condyle) Horse doesn't feel it. Next two strides blows the fracture away from the bone. Now the leg can't bear weight normally at all - but the horse is still at 40mph. Next three strides tears the ligaments, shatters the pastern ...
I have no problem at all thinking "one bad step"