Barbaro Is Euthanized

Ah, Rats.
If one is going to be touched by something, there are many more important things in our crazy world to be touched by, I know, but this sure does take my breath away for a minute.

The NYTimes said:
"The eight-month effort to nurse the horse back to health riveted enthusiasts around the world, and reminded casual fans about the beauty, mystery and heartbreak that is part of thoroughbred racing."

I was a casual fan at best, until this horse captured my heart on Derby Day (one among a million hearts he won on that day, I imagine). He was a gorgeous horse who could run like the wind, it's not often we find exceptional beauty and outstanding talent in one package. When we do, we can be awed by it.

Then there was the instant sadness of the Preakness, watching Prado instantly stop and then hold his horse up, the severity of the injury instantly understood by anyone watching, but not by Barbaro. That horse still wanted to run and he was indignant that the others went on without him. That's when he got my heart forever.
This horse, so severly injured that he might be put down right at the track, was trying to break away from his jockey and the others holding him on the track so that he could run.
For those who think that horse-racing is cruel, that moment seemed to prove otherwise. This horse was doing what he loved to do, what he lived to do.

Beauty, talent and the heart of a champion. He never lost a race.