Vet Mourns Barbaro

After a valiant fight to recover from a shattered right hind foot and complications in his left hind foot, Kentucky Derby champion Barbaro was put down.

His veterinarian, Dr. Dean Richardson is trained to be logical, rational, and cool under pressure. But Barbaro's doctor and spokesperson couldn't help getting emotionally involved with the horse that America fell in love with.

"I really, really wanted him to survive and go on to become a stallion, so it's very disappointing," he told The Early Show veterinary correspondent Dr. Debbye Turner in an exclusive interview.

Dr. Richardson had a hard time facing his first day in eight months without Barbaro. He said that euthanizing the horse was an agonizing but unavoidable decision.

"It's literally thinking about failing to save the horse," he said. "And missing the horse."

Richardson became quite emotional at the press conference Monday when he announced that Barbaro would be put down, but he thought he showed some self-restraint, considering the attachment he felt to the horse.

"I was actually surprised that I held myself together that well. That was tough. That was very difficult," he said.

Early on, Dr. Richardson, a skilled surgeon, had to learn to become a master spokesperson and deftly narrated Barbaro's many ups and downs from the broken right hind foot, to the laminitis in the left hind foot and ultimately being left with no good leg to stand on.

"Of course that's where you have to fight back certain elements of your own ego and personality and realize what's the best interest of the horse," Dr. Richardson said.

He does admit to questioning some of his decisions but in the end Dr. Richardson decided not to look back.

"You don't know if your second guess would have been better, either," he said. "So even if you think you made a mistake by doing X or Y, you know if you had elected Z, you don't know that Z would have worked out either."

Many things did work out well. Last August, Barbaro was out and about and feeling sassy enough to take a nip at his fingers. By November, his broken right foot was healed.

In fact he had some great days. But Barbaro's crowning moment was far too short. A king who's reign ended too soon. For Dr. Richardson, this dynamic colt will not soon be forgotten.

"In my mind he was a very exceptional horse," he said. "It was a long time and he just kept such an amazingly positive attitude. So that would make him unforgettable even if he didn't have any other characteristics that were memorable."