Unbelievable

Three fractures above and below the fetlock, including a fully shattered long pastern (we're talking 20+ pieces here), plus one dislocated ankle...and our boy is out of surgery and eating. Eating! I can't even tell you how remarkable this is for a horse, but trust me: the fact that it's happened at all is worth celebrating. It will probably be a few months before he's officially out of the woods, because horses don't exactly like to lie around recuperating, nor are their bodies built for staying still (it's actually quite hard on their internal organs). There's a nasty condition called laminitis that can occur in the other foot if he spends too much time on it, but still. This is better than any of us expected.


That's a Derby picture there. If you're curious about what happened in the Preakness, just check out his right rear leg here.

I'm not posting the picture here because the bent leg is pretty upsetting to some. This is less graphic to look at than a couple of the in-race photos, however, when everything around the fetlock (ankle) was pointed at a 90 degree angle from the leg.