pet connection

Tomorrow, as always, I’ll be watching the Preakness. I’m horse-racing fan from my earliest days, and I follow the sport year-round. (And I’ll use any excuse to show off this image of me with jockey Edgar Prado.)

Last year’s Preakness was one of three worse races I’ve ever watched — the others were Ruffian’s breakdown in the ’70s and Go For Wand’s in the ’90s. (The Go For Wand breakdown in the Breeders Cup is the worse racing tragedy I’ve ever witnessed. The pictures can be found online. Don’t go find them. That race still makes me sick to picture it in my mind’s eye.)

If Barbaro hadn’t been the Derby winner, I doubt he’d have been given the chance to fight for his life after he shattered his leg in the Preakness. I don’t know, though, since the Jacksons have proven to be very special breeders and owners.

Anyway … when I was a child, I was nuts for Breyer model horses, and I still have a few of them around. Breyer made a special edition Barbaro model, donating proceeds to helping horses to survive laminitis, the hoof disease that led to the eventual decision to euthanize Barbaro to end his suffering. From the Bloodhorse:

Breyer model horse maker Reeves International contributed $126,500 to the Laminitis Fund, created in memory of Barbaro, during the annual Alibi Breakfast Thursday at Pimlico Race Course.

Company president Tony Fleischmann presented a check for the donation to the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School, the beneficiary of the Laminitis Fund. The fund for laminitis research was established by Barbaro’s owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson.

The donation was from profits from Breyer’s special Barbaro model and increased the company’s total contribution from sales of the model to $241,000.

The Alibi Breakfast is a traditional event linked to the running of the Preakness Stakes, the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

You can donate as well, by the way, and if you do so tomorrow, you’ll get a keepsake on Barbaro.

As always, I’ll be hoping for a Triple Crown winner, so I’ll be cheering for Street CrySense (whoops! Street Cry is his daddy!). But more than anything else, I’ll be praying for horses and jockeys to stay safe.

Speaking of laminitis, my friend Audrey Pavia, co-author on our new horse book out this fall, sends word of a free Webinar on the subject. Details after the jump. Here’s the information:

Barbaro has raised the country’s awareness of the devastating disease known as laminitis. Unfortunately, many owners have experienced this problem firsthand with their horses. The good news is that progress has been made on many fronts in preventing, treating, and maintaining horses with laminitis.

In order to help horse owners better understand this disease, TheHorse.com and sponsors Vettec (www.vettec.com), AIRshod (www.airshod.com), and Delta Hoof Care (deltahoofcare.com) are presenting a live educational Webinar on Wednesday, May 23, at 1 p.m. EDT, on “Understanding Laminitis.”

This FREE hourlong educational event will feature Rustin Moore, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, and Jim Belknap, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, of The Ohio State University. Both have spent a large portion of their careers researching and treating horses with laminitis, and they offer a special insight on this problem that crosses all breeds, disciplines, ages, and sexes of horses.

This event is limited to the first 1,000 registrants, so please register early. You will use your computer to watch the educational presentation and interact by typing in your questions that will be answered live, and you will dial a toll-free number on your phone to hear the audio portion of the event. As many people as you wish may be at each computer terminal to participate in the Webinar. (Please note that international callers will incur an out-of-country charge.)

Registrations for the free Webinar on Understanding Laminitis are being taken at: www.gotomeeting.com/register/572997047.

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