Leaders
of the Times
Gitar
MF
The world watched and cheered when American
thoroughbred Barbaro won the Kentucky Derby
by 6.5 lengths. They waited for a glimpse
of him at the Preakness Stakes, where he was
expected to win handily, and then move on
to the Belmont Stakes and what would surely
be the first Triple Crown win since Affirmed's
victorious reign in 1978. And then the world
stopped for a moment when the unthinkable
happened. Just out of the starting gate at
the Preakness, Barbaro shattered his right
hind leg in three places. Jockey Edgar Prado
struggled to stop the valiant warrior while
everyone in the stands forgot the race and
prayed for the horse.
Those prayers continued through the long months,
the ups and downs, the rallies and setbacks
that Barbaro would live through at the University
of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center, Kennett
Square, Pa. Millions followed his recovery
worldwide. There were message boards, get
well cards, candle-lighting, makeshift memorials.
There were personal messages to the horse
that couldn't read about how his courageous
struggle was an inspiration. There was even
an invitation to a wedding sent to Barbaro.
While the world continued
to monitor Barbaro's struggles, at Adandy
Farm on the quiet winter morning of December
29, the stallion Gitar MF (Afire Bey V x Gitara
PASB by Eskimos) began to show signs of a
mild case of colic. He didn't appear any worse,
but not any better by nightfall and Adandy
Farm's local veterinarian recommended a trip
to New Bolton. And so it began, Gitar MF's
struggle to survive.
After conducting exploratory
surgery on the stallion, surgeons discovered
the unfathomable - the ascending part of Gitar's
colon had flipped 360 degrees, most of it
already gray and damaged. How a horse suffering
such a severe case of colic could not have
shown the signs of what must have been terrible
discomfort and pain? The surgeons were stunned.
Cathy Vincent was stunned. Harvey Bitler,
Gitar's owner was stunned. The choice was
made to remove the damaged part of the colon,
reconnect what was left and pray for a miracle.
A day following the
surgery, Gitar appeared to everyone to be
resting comfortably, but Vincent wasn't convinced,
especially since he had already proven himself
so stoic. "I know this horse. I see him
every day. I knew by looking at him there
was something else wrong. Even though he seemed
comfortable, I knew he wasn't. He was wearing
a belly band, and when we took that off, we
found blood. The next morning they went in
again to determine where the blood was coming
from and although they found that his abdominal
cavity was full of blood, they could not find
the source. They did discover that the reconnection
site was working well, so that was the good
news. He got cleaned up and sewn back up."
Not too long after that,
Gitar developed a staff infection, one the
staff at New Bolton had never treated before
and had to work to identify the proper antibiotic
with which to treat it. Gitar underwent two
blood transfusions in an effort to stabilize
his red blood cell count. By this point, according
to Vincent, he had a hole in his belly your
hand would fit into.
"That horse never complained and was
so quiet the entire time we were working to
save him, it was unbelievable," says
Vincent. "He wouldn't lie down; I think
he knew that it would be too much of a strain
on his belly to get back up."
In the meantime, as veterinarians scrambled
to find an antibiotic to fight the infection,
Gitar waited patiently. One can only imagine
the whinnies and knickers in the quiet hallways
during the overnight hours at New Bolton as
Gitar and Barbaro, two valiant warriors, gave
one another encouragement and comfort.
Sadly, in the midst
of Gitar's stay, Barbaro, suffering from severe
laminitis, was humanely put down on January
29. Millions of people around the world that
had followed the stallion's battle mourned
his loss. But the torch was passed to a stallion
down the alleyway at New Bolton. The torch
was passed to Gitar MF.
As astounded as veterinarians
and staff members were that Gitar never showed
more distress in the beginning of his odyssey,
they became even more so as they got to know
him. "What people don't realize about
his horse until they see him in person is
that he is like a human," says Vincent.
"He is all fired up in the show ring
with his hooky neck and his tail flipped over
his hind end, but around the barn, he is a
gentleman and a friend. You can honestly talk
to this horse. That is what made him so special
to the staff at New Bolton," she says.
"His disposition and heart and the way
he understood that we were trying to help
him made is recovery possible. Some horses
wouldn't have been able to understand what
was going on like he did."
When Gitar MF finally
was able to leave New Bolton on February 8,
he was followed to the trailer by 30 veterinarians
and staffers, surely all still saddened by
the loss of Barbaro, but uplifted by what
was the unlikely survival of Gitar.
"He got off that trailer and hollered
to the mares," recalls Vincent. "He
was so happy to be home again. And we were
happy to have him back home.
"I've always said
this horse was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of
horse," she says. "Now he's really
proven that to me by showing me and the rest
of the world how much heart he really has.
You can have a lot of things in a horse -
great motion, pretty head, trainability, presence,
good conformation - but none of those mean
a darn thing without heart. And he's got enough
for a herd of horses."
Gitar is continuing
to recover well and Vincent expects to be
collecting him again in April. She and Bitler
are grateful for that and looking forward
to future foals, but know what Gitar has given
them already is a far greater gift. "When
you witness firsthand the struggle of a brave
animal and feel like that animal is fighting
to survive for you, it brings horse ownership
to a whole different level," she says.
"He has proven to me and everyone around
him that he is more than a horse - he's a
partner. And whatever the future holds, we
are all in this together."
When Gitar starts back
to his full breeding schedule in April, those
babies will join the ranks of such well-known
names as Scarlet O Butler, 2005 U.S. National
English Pleasure 40 & Over Champion and
Top Ten; Rapid Fire EWA, 2005 U.S. National
English Pleasure Junior Horse Reserve Champion
and Run Forest Run, a regional champion and
Canadian Top Ten in 2006. But it is more than
the accolades that make Gitar MF's offspring
special.
"The offspring
that has already been in the show ring are
following in Gitar's footsteps in terms of
ability, presence, type - all those things
that make him an extraordinary show horse,"
says Vincent. "His foals are also very
trainable with an easy temperament and willingness
to work. But what they've got that you can't
see is heart. These babies are going to be
just like their sire - full of try, heart
and character. And that is something you can't
buy, you can't train, you can't school. It
is priceless."
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