can the horse still race professionally?? like if a horse broke a tenden verses a horse breaking his leg? is it even possible for the horse to completely recover?
thanks so much for your help!!! I really appreciate it!
2007-04-02 05:58:07 · 8 answers · asked by jen 2 in Sports ➔ Horse Racing
It's usually very unlikely that the horse would ever race again, even if it does fully recover. Charismatic broke down at the Belmont finish line which finished his career. A lot of times, people don't give the healing a chance... when the horse breaks down, they euthanize it immediately. If the horse is a proven great like Charismatic, there's really no reason to put it back into racing when it heals because they can make money breeding, so they don't need to race it. If it's a low level horse, if the owner saves it at all, i'd think it would probably be sold as a show horse instead of returning to racing. That's not to say that it can't be done. Seabiscuit returned to racing (but that was at a time when horses ran much later into their lives than they do now). They were trying to get Afleet Alex back into racing for the Breeders cup after his tendon problem, but they found another problem just before the race, and that ended his career. Tendon problems are more likely to heal and allow the horse to race again... broken legs take a long time to heal and a lot of rehabilitation... it would likely be the next year before the horse could do anything again. Had Barbaro healed (well, Barbaro couldn't possibly heal enough from that injury to race again, but just using him as an example), he couldn't be raced again until his 4 year old season... and by that time, he would have had so much time off that he'd be out of condition... he couldn't just jump back into racing and run something important like the Breeders or Dubai races... so a broken leg is really not likely to allow the horse to return to racing... it'll either result in death or a life as stud.
it is possible for the horse to heal and return to racing... but all odds are against that... that's why it's so disappointing when a racehorse breaks down... because we truly lose a champion.
2007-04-02 06:59:52 · answer #1 · answered by kmnmiamisax 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If a horse recovers from an injury, it can definitely race again. Most race horses have had at least minor injuries at some point. The outlook is not so good when a horse suffers a serious breakdown, however. More often than not they are either put down or retired.
The real problem is that too many horses are given painkillers when sore rather than rested to heal. That is a factor in many breakdowns on the track.
Whether or not a horse can recover from an injury depends on several factors including type of injury, extent of damage and how much the owners are willing to commit and afford to healing it.
Bob
2007-04-03 14:30:03 · answer #2 · answered by bobphilo1492 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Mostly the answer to your question comes down to economics. When a horse goes lame, unfortunately the first question that gets asked is, "how much is it going to cost to fix this?"
With soft-tissue injuries and some bone injuries, there may be surgery involved and then lay-up time, some of which will be "convalescent" lay-up that could involve stall rest, hand-walking, hosing the injured area, or otherwise treating the injury; some of the lay-up time will involve turn-out and then "legging up" (conditioning) the horse so that it's fit to race again.
All of that adds up to money. In some cases, it may be several thousand dollars in surgery, veterinary care, board at a lay-up facility, and then training time to re-condition the horse.
The trainer has to ask the owner of the horse if he wants to spend that kind of money. If the horse is a cheap claiming horse, or has been unsuccessful at the races, the owner may decide to cut his losses and sell the horse for what he can get, or even have the trainer give it away. If that happens, that's usually the end of the racing career and the beginning of the career as a riding horse, if the horse is lucky. If not, it's usually a trip to the "kill pen" at some local auction.
If the horse has some monetary value, the question then can become whether the horse's greater worth is as a racehorse or a breeding animal. In the case of well-bred fillies or mares, the owner will mostly choose to retire the mare and either use her as a broodmare or sell her to someone who will breed her (not all racehorse owners are interested in breeding). Personal Ensign is very, very unusual in being the case of a well-bred filly who had a serious injury and was not retired to her owner's broodmare band.
One of the factors in making the decision to try to return to the races is assessing the probability that the horse will return to whatever form it had before it was injured. Most owners won't want to run a well-bred stakes horse that has potential value at stud or as a broodmare at a lower level than it was at before the injury. So if a vet tells them that there's only a chance the horse will return to the races as good as it was before the injury, most owners will retire the horse.
This is where some farms will take a chance on a horse that showed promise but was injured. A real good example of this is Country Life Farm stallion Malibu Moon, who is now standing at Castleton-Lyons farm in Kentucky. Malibu Moon was injured after 2 starts as a 2-year-old. He'd broken his maiden in awesome fashion and seemed destined to have a sterling career at the races, but he was injured.
Because of his breeding and the promise he had shown, he was sent to stud at Country Life Farm in Maryland. The Pons family has a good record of managing lightly-raced or unraced stallions with good pedigrees, and they have been successful with Malibu Moon. Now they're doing the same thing with Oratory, another well-bred horse that was injured in his prime.
A horse can make a comeback from some kinds of injuries, and can be successful at it. But it has to be economically feasible to try and the owner has to be convinced that it's worthwhile. It's a case-by-case thing.
2007-04-04 17:59:49 · answer #3 · answered by Karin C 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This will actually depend on the severity of damage. Horses are large animals and the legs are very important. I have broke the same leg twice and it not the same as when it was not broke. Now my story;
Pokey was a cutting horse (Not my Horse) and had won many competitions, trophies, ribbons and belt bucks etc.. We kept Pokey as his later owner not have the pasture for him and we take good care of him, this how we met. One day in competition he broke his back leg, people figure he just twisted it wrong and the stress brake it. Now that leg is bigger than the others down at the break and Pokey not compete anymore. But, he a good horse and children love him. He still has the spirit, he just not have the ability.
Now, with that said; There was a race horse named "Rare Brick" he was awesome, come out of the gate tail up in the air like a flag. He "WAS" the Triple Crown Horse. I believe in my heart he was it. If, you wanted a winning bet, you bet on Rare Brick!!!! He come out of the gate first and "Never" lost that position, not matter what post position he have. Then he broke his leg. I not sure now if he retired, but, he could still race after healing. But, then he was just another race horse on the track.
But, his "Wanger" still work good, he the Stud!
http://www.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=30094
I think in this picture; http://www.texasthoroughbred.com/TTA/Portals/57ad7180-c5e7-49f5-b282-c6475cdb7ee7/rarebrick.JPG you can tell which leg was broke.
2007-04-02 13:14:17 · answer #4 · answered by Snaglefritz 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It really depends on the type injury and how bad it is. Some horses have recoved from bad leg injuries and such and went on to have successful careers in racing (Mariah's Storm for example). But most horses that do recover usually never run the same again and are retired but do go on to live productive lives outside of racing.
2007-04-02 15:09:46 · answer #5 · answered by racehorsegal 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Horses do recover from tendon damage, muscle and foot damage and race again. It is quite common.
Broken limbs may eventually heal but the horse has to be put into a support for many months - it may breed again but is unlikely to race again.
2007-04-05 07:09:05 · answer #6 · answered by robert f 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it depends on how badly the horse got hurt and if it can ever completely recover. you have to talk this over with a vet.
2007-04-02 13:00:19 · answer #7 · answered by *australian*gal* 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It depends on how bad the horse hurts its leg!!! i mean some horses have come back, like seabiscuit!!!!!
2007-04-05 21:54:28 · answer #8 · answered by streetsensefan07 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋