MaryL wrote:
> Yes, they would have had to euthanize a stallion in that condition. She
> broke both front ankles, so she could not stand. It is almost
> impossible to keep a horse alive for any period of time in a sling. I
> remember becoming distraught as a child when I learned that it is common
> practice to destroy a horse with a broken leg. I could not understand
> it and once told my father, "...but you would not kill *me* if I had a
> broken leg"! They tried to keep Barbaro alive, but he was almost a cult
> figure by then. In fact, they used heroic measures (which probably
> caused still more pain for him), but he developed laminitis. That is a
> common problem for horses that cannot put equal pressure on all legs. I
> cried over his death, too.

And in Barbaro's hideous case, he was forced to survive at any cost in
the hope that he would one day stand stud. The treatment we give these
fine animals is so atrocious and self-serving... kept alive for
torturous months until his owners couldn't deny his suffering anymore.
Disgraceful!