Barbaro

Over the last two days I've been an absolute faucet while watching ESPN, hoping for good news about Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro. Every time they show something on him I have to reach for the Kleenex, good news or bad.

The update -

As docs feared he might, he's developed severe laminitis in his left rear leg. Horses need to be able to balance equally on all four feet - it's the way they're designed. So when he put too much weight on the left rear leg, it caused laminitis, a painful condition similar, so I'm told, to having your fingernails removed. His hoof peels away from the hoof wall, I understand (hooves are made up of several parts, but I couldn't tell you what they were). The docs had to cut away 80% of his hoof wall and are keeping him part time in a sling to ease the weight on his feet. He's also on painkillers.

The only thing keeping him alive right now is his upbeat demeanor - he's eating well, sleeping well (lying down, which horses often do, despite what you learned in school) and reacting well to people. Let me stress this. Had he been just about any other horse, he would be dead by now. But his good nature, and loving owners, have kept him alive this long, and I hope for a long time to come. The nation is watching, and so is horse racing, and not only is it good for him to stay alive, it's good for racing.

People keep asking me if racing is cruel. Is it? Isn't football just as cruel to the men who play it and then endure years of pain in their knees and hips from all the hits they took on artificial turf? Isn't boxing cruel for causing Parkinson's in those who take so many hits to the head? Isn't auto racing cruel for killing so many of its promising stars?

You can argue those people chose those sports while horses didn't choose to run. I can agree and disagree. Those people DID choose those sports and they know the risks. But try to tell a horse bred throughout centuries not to run. It's who they are. Certainly Thoroughbred racing can do a MUCH better job of protecting its athletes before, during and AFTER their racing careers. I'm not going to argue that, I see the needs. But it's improving and people are turning more and more of their attention to retirement for racehorses - giving them pastures to play in and taking them to juvenile centers where kids learn about unconditional love, sometimes for the first time ever. There are many strides to be made, that's for certain. But there are also so many good things about it, so many positive moves made (medical breakthroughs that benefited not just Barbaro but horses everywhere; Alex's Lemonade Stand to name a few) that although racing, like many other sports, has its cruelties, not having racing, losing all of those jobs and watching all of those horses, no longer useful, sent to slaughter, would be much more cruel.

So say a prayer or two for Barbaro, if you're into that sort of thing. I am, and I do.

Question of the day: On a lighter note, does anybody know where I can get WAV files of Alias and Veronica Mars audio? I'm making a fun CD full of TV themes and quotes, and those are two shows I would love to quote from, but I can't find websites with that stuff on it for either show. Help!