Hoist the Flag, continued

When we last left Hoist the Flag, he was still sedated having had his right rear leg rebuilt with a bone graft that was stabilized with screws and plates, a technique developed by surgeons in Switzerland for humans. Veterinarians Jacques Jenny and William Reed fashioned the first fiberglass cast ever to be wrapped around a horse's leg and waited for the grandson of War Admiral to wake up.

When he did, Hoist the Flag righted himself and stood, apparently without much discomfort. He was able to walk and distributed his weight evenly on all four legs. Hoist the Flag not only survived the ground-breaking surgery (which should sound incredibly familiar to those who followed Barbaro's case), he went on to become an exceptional sire. In a twist of irony, Reed would apply similar compression techniques fifteen years later to one of Hoist the Flag's granddaughters, Personal Ensign, who shattered the long pastern bone on her left leg during a workout. Personal Ensign not only recovered but returned to the track, remaining undefeated in her twelve remaining twelve starts.

And what of Dr. Jacques Jenny, considered by many to be the founding father of equine orthopedic surgery? He became the chief of Surgery at Penn's New Bolton Center, where he developed the swimming pool-based system of recovery for horses waking up from sedation. The concept, inspired in part by Ruffian's tragic demise when she shattered her repaired leg violently when waking from anesthesia, is where Barbaro woke up following all of his surgeries at New Bolton.

Those who criticize the Jacksons for trying to save Barbaro's life when the prognosis seemed so grim may not know the cardinal rule of medicine: you never know what might happen. And just look at how that surgery has already pushed the envelope even further.....