Comeback Horses!

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Isn't that the same injury that Brass Hat came back from?

I know Brass Hat came back from a broken cannon bone but I don't know if it was similar to SW's injury.

The horse who had a similar injury to SW was Afleet Alex. He had a condylar fracture and never made it back.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

I know Brass Hat came back from a broken cannon bone but I don't know if it was similar to SW's injury.

The horse who had a similar injury to SW was Afleet Alex. He had a condylar fracture and never made it back.

It was Insurance Premiums that kept him from coming back not a condylar fracture.

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

It was Insurance Premiums that kept him from coming back not a condylar fracture.

No, that's not true. After Alex's first workout back, which was way too fast and way too soon, the bone broke again just above the place where they had inserted the screw. They did everything they could to try to bring him back.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

It was Insurance Premiums that kept him from coming back not a condylar fracture.

It wasn't the insurance premiums. It was the injury. The owners had their hearts set on bringing him back. When I saw him work in the Fall, I could see he wasn't the same horse. He wasn't moving right. They did some more x-rays and realized that the horse could not run any more. The vets would not give him the go-ahead when they realized the extent of the damage to the bone. He had something called avascular necrosis which means the bone had become brittle and lost its spongy characteristic. According to Dr. Bramlage's diagnosis, the horse would have needed another 9 months for the bone to heal and even after that, the bone still would probably not have looked good enough for the horse to get the green light to run again.

So the best case scenario for AA was that there was a small chance that he could run again if they gave him a year off. That's not a very good prognosis. That's why he was retired.

[SniperSB23]

Rose in his frustration let it slip that it was more an insurance issue than anything. The group that owned him was named Cash is King for God's sake. Yes, there were some new developments with the injury that did made him more of an insurance risk. In turn the insurance premium went up. If they wanted to bring him back the following year they could have but only while paying a much higher insurance premium. While I in no way fault them for their decision it was a decision to retire him, not a retirement due to a career ending injury. In the end cash was king.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Rose in his frustration let it slip that it was more an insurance issue than anything. The group that owned him was named Cash is King for God's sake. Yes, there were some new developments with the injury that did made him more of an insurance risk. In turn the insurance premium went up. If they wanted to bring him back the following year they could have but only while paying a much higher insurance premium. While I in no way fault them for their decision it was a decision to retire him, not a retirement due to a career ending injury. In the end cash was king.

If the horse was a $50,000 claimer, they may have tried to bring him back. Afleet Alex was worth over $15 million. As poor as the prognosis was, they obviously were not going to bring him back.

Even with a healthy horse, it would cost $750,000 a year to insure a $15 million horse. You are right that insurance is very expensive. Despite the fact that insurance is very expensive, they would have still brought the horse back if the prognosis was not so poor.

[AeWingnut]

they are quick to get them in the breeding shed
their stock as a sire can only go down if they can't cut it in open company
not all 3 yr olds are good 4 yr olds

and vice versa

I don't think you would take the chance
look how many horses break down that aren't even racing

[pba1817]

You should push horses hard, anyone ever heard of the term, "healthy as a horse"??

The reason why we are getting so many breakdowns is because horsemen have gone way overboard in efforts to baby the horses, they are over Dependant on the drugs that are allowed as well. The only way to get back to good sound horses is take away the drugs, train them hard, and race them more frequently.. the breed will start to turn around only when this happens. If not, the breed will continue to go downhill.