Word: paines
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...hands. The chest pounding grows stronger, quicker and louder. Following the rhythm, the men in the middle crouch down, spring from the ground and use the full force of acceleration to slam the flails down on their exposed backs. Bruises bloom, dark and malevolent, but their faces register no pain, only grief, or an almost otherworldly conviction...
...shirt over his lacerated back. Slowly the faded cotton darkens with blood. "Their presence gives us power." Indeed, the presence of an audience appears to egg on the penitents. The strikes are harder in the presence of video cameras and camera phones. Still, he says that he feels no pain. "Our imam was killed, his blood was shed for Islam, so we shed our blood for Islam. The pride eclipses the pain...
...Even if you question whether the tens of thousands of dollars that Barbaro's owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, spent on his medical care was worth it, for both a horse and fans in constant pain, you must admire how he inspired the public, showing that horse racing, now a marginalized pursuit on the American sporting landscape, can still have an impact. Just 200 yards into the Preakness, Barbaro's right hind leg gruesomely gave out. Jockey Edgar Prado's quick reflexes - he immediately halted the colt - saved Barbaro's life right there. The record crowd...
...Surgery was successful. But while he survived the first scare, an eight-month roller coaster followed. In July, Barbaro developed severe laminitis, an equine foot disease in which the connection between the bone and hoof separates, causing excruciating pain. Dean Richardson, Barbaro's surgeon, called the colt's prognosis "poor." But his left hind hoof, uninjured in the Preakness, continued to re-grow after surgery removed 80% of it. In November, a cast on Barbaro's shattered right hind leg was removed. "In my mind's eye, he can leave in the not so distant future," Richardson declared...
...Barbaro watchers are left to wonder if the last eight months of pain and hope were really worth it. In virtually all such injuries, the racehorse would be euthanized - the unfortunate cost of a brutal, beautiful sport, where 1,200-lb. beasts fire down tracks on bean-pole legs. But Barbaro wasn't your typical horse. Whatever you think, Barbaro fought hard, and the fact that there was even talk of releasing him was a medical miracle. Isn't a near-miracle worth the try? It's a story with an unhappy ending, but the Jacksons got the timing right...