Oh no Big Brown is hurt

News 2 link pray is ok for the race I really want to see him win for danirella's family

Message edited 5/26/2008 7:59:01 AM.

Re: Oh no Big brown is hurt

Feel better Big Brown!!

Re: Oh no Big Brown is hurt

I'm sorry, but I don't think they should race him if he has a crack in his hoof. He could get seriously injured and have to be put down!

Re: Oh no Big Brown is hurt

Posted by Snickers

I'm sorry, but I don't think they should race him if he has a crack in his hoof. He could get seriously injured and have to be put down!

Re: Oh no Big Brown is hurt

Posted by Snickers

I'm sorry, but I don't think they should race him if he has a crack in his hoof. He could get seriously injured and have to be put down!

Re: Oh no Big Brown is hurt

Sadly the way it is being reported, he'll likely race.

I'm not a horse person (Kara? you around?) but they are really downplaying the seriousness of this type of injury.

Re: Oh no Big Brown is hurt

Oh No I hope Big Brown Recovers fast, They shouldn't race him if he is hurt. I pray they dont . But i also Hope that if they ' Do" Race him that they can try and fix his cracked hoof so he doesn't get hurt seriously bad and they would have to put him down, That would be such a devastation.

Re: Oh no Big Brown is hurt

Oh no. I really hope they don't race him, for the horse's sake. It's just too risky. Pray for a miracle!

Re: Oh no Big Brown is hurt

Posted by Snickers

I'm sorry, but I don't think they should race him if he has a crack in his hoof. He could get seriously injured and have to be put down!

Re: Oh no Big Brown is hurt

I haven't read much about what type of quarter crack he has or the severity of it... That said, the only fatalities related to quarter cracks that I've ever heard of are from cracks that were so deep they went through the hoof wall, got infected, and weren't properly treated. All quarter cracks should be monitored at a minumum and usually require some sort of treatment. More serious ones require breaks from work and serious treatment. Many horses with mild quarter cracks remain in full work. Not all quarter cracks are mild, of course, but not all of them are cause for incredible alarm either.

Quarter cracks can be anything from a superficial sand crack (virtually harmless) to deeper cracks that go through the hoof wall into the laminae (the sensitive tissue inside the foot that holds the coffin bone to the hoof wall). From the little bit I've read, Big Brown's quarter crack is superficial, not causing him any pain, and not causing any lameness. I believe in the past, Big Brown has had very serious quarter cracks that got infected (which have totally healed and grown out), but this one sounds different (at least from what I read).

At this point, I can't fault Big Brown's trainers for what they are doing. At this stage and this distance out from the race, they are being reasonable. My understanding is that they have taken him out of training to treat the crack and will reevaluate later in the week to see how the treatment is going and how his farrier and vets feel he will hold up to training. (unless the plan has changed since I read about it?) I, personally, see nothing unreasonable about that, if the crack is as I've read it to be... It's tough to be more specific about it not knowing much about the crack...

I don't think it's worth getting alarmed about the fact that they aren't scratching him a couple weeks out from the race. I'd be inclined to wait to see how the next week goes before determining his soundness and fitness for the race.

ETA -- If this happened only a week or a few days out from the race, then I'd probably feel differently. It's not enough time to get any feel for how the crack is healing or will hold up. Hopefully they will be responsible and reasonable about monitoring the crack and how it may hold up to a race. I think being cautiously optimistic at this point is all right... but I definitely think it's something they have to watch and take seriously... but I don't think it requires scratching right away. If it is a more serious crack, however, that might warrant scratching now. It's tough to say without seeing it in person or getting more details about it.

Message edited 5/26/2008 2:45:48 PM.

Re: Oh no Big Brown is hurt

For those who are worried he's in pain, horses have no feeling in the outer wall of their feet (hency why farriers can nail shoes to them). Unless the quarter crack is deep and penetrates the hoof wall, Big Brown isn't in any pain.

Many, many, many horses have cracks (not quarter cracks - they are different) in their hooves that don't cause them any problems.

Re: Oh no Big Brown is hurt

Re: Oh no Big Brown is hurt

Thanks Kara for that explanation.

Re: Oh no Big Brown is hurt

Posted by BunnyWife

Thanks Kara for that explanation.