I am a fan of southern californias horse racing( Del Mar, Santa Anita, and Hollywood Park).
I've been to the races many times and have seen atleast one horse breakdown every 4 or 5 times I've gone to the races. It happens and it's very sad.
If you watch enough horse racing, You follow Horses and Jockeys like you would NFL stars.
With that said, I think its a god damn shame how much pain the owners of barbaro made him endure. They should also be put down. If that was any other horse, They would've been put down on the track.
The reason why the kept his alive is money. They were sitting on a winning lottery ticket.
For those that down follow racing, A horse can make alot of money racing, But the great ones can make much much more at stud.
The top Stud, No not AMD, Stormcat earns $500,000 per foal(baby horse)! Half a mill a pop!
No that is not an exaggeration:
http://www.stallionregister.com/pdfs/stormcat.pdf
He makes more money per year than Shaq, Peyton Manning, ARod and just about any other athlete in the world.
Barbaro was kept alive for him Stud Potential. His owners are going to lose out on Million and Millions of dollars.
Barbaro was a victim of greed.
And yes, I think its ridiculous to send him cards and flowers.