Soundness Issues or Bad Luck? The Perplexing Rockport Harbor

[StrawberryFelidos]

So, Rockport Harbor messed-up his foot again (we need a slapping head emoticon):
http://racing.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=32559

The connections go to great lengths to say that this is all due to bad luck. But Rockport Harbor is out of Unbridled's Song, and we know he isn't the sire of soundness. My question is: was this really all a case of bad luck (one freak injury throwing a wrench in his career) or is all this foot mayham mired in unsoundness?

If it was all just a freak accident, it would be very unfortunate, indeed. But if his feet were unsound to begin with, it was just a matter of time.

I should add that, either way, I feel bad for the horse. His connections worked him like mad on that bad foot last year, then laid him off for nearly a year only to have it all come back to haunt him. Talk about life being a...

[ragsdaj]

from what I have read Rockport did sustain a track injury. Another horse stepped on his back leg.

The last I had read before your posting was that Rockport was 100% and the back leg had healed completely. They even made a point to talk about the scar tissue and how it would never cause trouble again. Reading this article indicates that the scar tissue split. To me it doesnt matter if they get him healed or not, the rigors of racing will cause this to be a problem again and excuse for future races. I hope they retire him.

[austique]

I think he's mainly been the victim of bad luck. With his sire, soundness is always suspect, but I think Rocky is a case of a nice horse with really bad luck getting stepped on and having the wound reopen. Shame really.

[StrawberryFelidos]

They even made a point to talk about the scar tissue and how it would never cause trouble again.

Again, we need a slapping head emoticon!
(:whap: :whap: :whap:)

At least they're not going to try any more of the crazy stunts they did last year.... I wonder, if they hadn't put him through so much to try to get to the Derby on that injured foot, would this ever have become such a big problem? Ah, well, it's only speculation...

[Nerd]

I think that Rockport Harbor was the victim of bad luck (namely, getting stepped on). If you're curious, you can see for yourself at
http://www.finalturngallery.com/album90/rockport_harbor_blood_2
http://www.finalturngallery.com/album89/Web_RH_cut_dk4890
(warning: blood)

[Denise]

Strawberry, I think it was indeed bad luck coupled with the dreaded "grey" feet. The one bad thing about a lot of greys, besides skin problems, is they typically have shelly feet (if they're light colored.) Abcesses, quarter cracks, stone bruises, you name it: they get 'em.
Once you start having foot troubles, regardless of the source, accident or otherwise, it seems like the propensity will always be there. Poor Rocky is such a big boy, too, that it puts added pressure on those tootsies. Racing is hard on your feet, period.
Our runners, despite being primarily turfers, all seem to experience minor bruising sometimes by season's end. That's why they all get several months off in the winter with no shoes for R&R.

[fdf]

I know this is the racing board and maybe this question is more for the breeding board but I have been seeing more and more comments about Unbridled's Song unsoundness as it relates to legs and feet. He still gets 150m for breeding fees so are these isolated cases or a common theme among horse people. And if they are common why has the Song's stud fee stayed so high...kind of a feast or famine type thing...

[Sam]

Strawberry, I think it was indeed bad luck coupled with the dreaded "grey" feet. The one bad thing about a lot of greys, besides skin problems, is they typically have shelly feet (if they're light colored.) Abcesses, quarter cracks, stone bruises, you name it: they get 'em.

Old wives tale.

There's absolute no proof whatsoever that light coloured hooves are any more prone to those things than a dark hoof. In fact, I seem to remember a study (using mustangs who have quite a few light coloured hooves in their midsts) that showed exactly that. Personally, I've known more than my fair share of horses with light hooves whose feet were far better than those with dark. It's just one of those things that someone came up with and old horsemen refuse to let go of. Just like the notion that socks are any kind of indicator as to soundness.

"One you buy'em
two you try'em
three you pass'em
four white socks and snip on the nose
cut off the hide and feed it to the crows."

[Lei Owen]

That cut is in a bad place. Hard to get it to heal. It might be unconventional to run thoroughbred's in bell boot's, but I'd sure have them on him.

[Denise]

Sam,
It's not an old wives' tale where I live, Sam. We've had our own experiences with bad grey feet, and know many others here who've experienced the same. I've even heard trainers scoff about getting greys because of the hoof maintenance if they're light colored.
Doesn't stop me from adoring grey horses, nevertheless, but like blondes, they have their issues with fair skin and hair!

[Sysonby]

I know this is the racing board and maybe this question is more for the breeding board but I have been seeing more and more comments about Unbridled's Song unsoundness as it relates to legs and feet. He still gets 150m for breeding fees so are these isolated cases or a common theme among horse people. And if they are common why has the Song's stud fee stayed so high...kind of a feast or famine type thing...

When they can run, they can really run and hope drives the market, which fuels the stud fees.

[Laro]

The color in the hoof is in the first couple of centimeteres of hoof wall. The color has nothing to do with the makeup of the feet. Many light colored horses have great feet, and many dark horses have lousy feet. Storm Cats, all tend to have one or more light colored feet, but no real problem with them. I also grew up hearing the wives tale but it has been misproven, as many others have. In the Quarter Horse world many horses have different colored feet with no problems. A horse either has good feet, or he dosen't.....

[ak1]

What are your thoughts on the latest news on RH? Article on Bloodhorse.com states that they have cut out scar tissue, cleared out some bacteria and patched the hoof along with creation of a special shoe so that they can attempt to keep him in training (with the next 4-5 days off).

I don't know anything about care for this type of injury...does this sound like something y'all would try? Can a cut of this nature heal to withstand the pressures of racing (vs being a pleasure horse/stud)?

Sad luck as he does seem to be a talented horse as well as pretty robust for his sireline.

[StrawberryFelidos]

Me personally? Mmmm...

I generally lament when a young horse is sent-off to stud for something goofy. Example: Rock Hard Ten, they retired him because they did an ultrasound on his legs (looking for any excuse to retire him ) , found some worn cartilage and proclaimed that this worn cartilage *might* cause him difficulty in racing in the future, thus he'd better be retired for $50k a pop before his value dropped. That sounded like real BS.

However, this sounds like an honest-to-God issue that Rockport Harbor is dealing with. We know that this injury actually affects his racing ability, as he tanked in the Razorback when it broke open. We also know that he's been given time off for it before (nearly a year) and that, despite that time off, it came back to haunt him anyway. Sounds like it'll come back again soon enough. I suspect they'll be able to get one more good race in him, at most, before it blows again. That's if he's lucky and the thing doesn't blow while he's exercising one morning. I don't really think he has a future in racing, thus I would retire him. But it's not my choice...

[austique]

He's finished. They have retired him. Apparently it was going to take six months to get him back to the track and there were no guarantees he would be fully healed.