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A more light-hearted story about Barbaro.

Alissa

> By Dan Gelston, AP Sports Writer | July 17, 2006
> KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. --Barbaro has a little spring in his sling. The 
> Kentucky Derby winner squirms in his own safety device, like a child 
> trying to break free from a jumper, and he even sits on his damaged 
> hind legs, the way dogs do when they beg for treats.
>
>
> Those are encouraging signs for sure for the ailing 3-year-old colt. 
> But the odds of Barbaro's full recovery from a severe case of 
> laminitis and a reconstructed right hind leg are really no better than 
> they were a week ago.
> "It is important for people to understand this is not a 'routine' 
> laminitis," Dr. Dean Richardson said Monday in a statement. "The care 
> involved in treating a hoof with this degree of compromise is complex."
> Barbaro's condition was stable Monday, his vital signs, appetite 
> ("usual voracious style") and heart rate were normal after another 
> comfortable night.
> "We will continue to manage his pain successfully, and he is alert," 
> Richardson said.
> He said the fiberglass cast on the horse's left foot will be changed 
> so the hoof can be treated and watched for signs of infection. Because 
> of laminitis, a painful and often-fatal condition, 80 percent of the 
> hoof wall was removed last week.
> The cast on the colt's right hind leg -- shattered shortly after the 
> start of the Preakness Stakes on May 20 -- has been changed at least 
> four times in the last two weeks.
> Through it all, Barbaro has acted downright frisky and seemed to 
> finally figure out how to handle his confinement in intensive care at 
> the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals.
> "He has learned how to adapt his posture to the sling so he can 
> benefit from the most comfort," 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.
> "He's learning how to almost dog sit, which is good because it takes 
> the weight off the front legs, which is, of course, our next great 
> concern," she told The Associated Press.
> Anderson left a mid-afternoon visit feeling good about the way the 
> colt looked, though she noted that the prognosis for his recovery was 
> still not encouraging.
> "The reality is, you have to say poor at this point in time," she 
> said. "It doesn't mean it's hopeless and I think that's the big 
> difference."
> Nearly everyone who has visited Barbaro during the past week has said 
> the same things about his appearance: He looks bright-eyed and alert.
> Anderson smiled when she described Barbaro's activity in his sling, 
> which has been fitted to prevent sudden movements and allows him to 
> shift his weight from side to side. The main goal is comfort.
> "He was using it similar to a jolly jumper," she said. "He was almost 
> doing like children do when they're bored, they do the jolly jumper 
> where they kind of boing around the stall. He was boinging, boinging 
> around the stall a little bit."
> Those seemingly never-ending deliveries of apples, carrots and 
> peppermints from fans don't seem to be going to waste, given the 
> reports of his hearty appetite. Kennett Florist makes several 
> deliveries a day to the hospital, its vans overflowing with roses and 
> gourmet baskets sent from well-wishers.
> "It's been very good for business, but it's been very time consuming," 
> store owner Alie Berstler said. "These people are very, very upset."
> Berstler said one fan ordered four dozen roses at a time, and 
> estimates she has probably delivered more than 400 roses, 300 apples 
> and 150 pounds of carrots since late last week.



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