“He’s pretty agile,” said Dean W. Richardson, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, chief of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center, referring to his well known patient, Barbaro, whose fractured leg he repaired on Sunday afternoon. “He’s done a couple of things that manifest his level of comfort. He actually was scratching his left ear with his left hind leg,” which shows he is comfortable putting weight on the injured right hind leg.

“When I was in there working with him this morning, he kind of waved at me with his left hind leg….he’s feeling very good, he’s walking very well on the limb,” added Richardson.

Barbaro underwent surgery for three fractured bones–his cannon bone, long pastern bone (P1), and a sesamoid–in his right hind leg on Sunday afternoon (May 23). On Day 2 post-surgery, Richardson seemed encouraged by Barbaro’s visible signs of recovery. “He’s actually so far a very good patient,” said Richardson. “His mental attitude is great–he’s very active, inquisitive, bright type of horse…he looks just the way he should look.”

Members of the New Bolton team are keeping an eye on Barbaro around the clock for any subtle signs of pain or discomfort. Richardson explained how he makes discernments involving Barbaro’s care: “I walk in and say, ‘How ‘ya feelin? Where’s it hurt?'” he kidded, and then he listed the objective signs he monitors such as food intake, heart rate, temperature, voluntary movement around the stall, and manure and urine production