Others have written elonquently about the death of Barbaro, and the lessons that his breakdown and failed recovery teach everybody. However, this quote from the on-course veterinarian when Barbaro was injured neatly sums up the underlying challenge when treating horses:

If you chose to design the worst orthopedic patient in the world, it would probably look like a horse," said renowned equine surgeon Larry Bramlage of Lexington's Rood & Riddle equine hospital. "They're wonderfully made for running, but they're not very well made for convalescence."