NEWS
Saving Global Hunter
Posted: Thursday, August 05, 2010 1:04 PM
GLOBAL HUNTER
Photo courtesy of Doug Herthel
by Denise Steffanus
Owners Shawn Turner and Monte Pyle cheered as their gutsy Global Hunter (Arg) stuck his head in front of Temple City at the finish to win the American Handicap (G2) at Hollywood Park on July 4. Turner momentarily diverted his attention to the raucous celebration going on around him. But when he glanced back at the turf course, the blood drained from his face as he literally fell to his knees. Global Hunter had broken down just past the finish line.
“In an instant, I was just in a fog, a cloud,” Turner said. “I didn’t even remember going onto the course. But the next thing I knew, I was there, petting the horse’s head and blowing in his nose, and trying to give him love. And the guys were telling me to be careful and trying to move me away. But I had no sense of anything except trying to live in the moment.”
Turner, Pyle, and trainer A. C. Avila followed the horse ambulance back to Avila’s barn, where the stable veterinarian examined the seven-year-old son of Jade Hunter and gave them the grim news. The horse, as a later diagnosis revealed, had fractured sesamoids and dislocated his fetlock.
“We were alerted that our chances were very slim,” said Turner, who estimated that Global Hunter had less than a 1% chance of survival.
Fortunately for Global Hunter and his connections, they had forged a relationship in recent years with Doug Herthel, D.V.M., and his team at Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center, and Herthel had developed a fondness for Global Hunter. Upon hearing the news, Herthel immediately dispatched a van to bring the horse to his clinic in Los Olivos, California, about 130 miles northwest of Hollywood Park, where he arrived around midnight. Lead groom Alfredo Escamilla met the van and helped to get the horse into the clinic, where other key personnel stabilized Global Hunter, made him comfortable, and cared for him through the night.
Sesamoid fractures
At 6 a.m. on July 5, a full team assembled for what would be life-saving surgery for the winner of the 2009 Eddie Read Stakes (G1) and career earner of $611,365.
Carter Judy, D.V.M., was the lead surgeon, assisted by Herthel and Mark Rick, D.V.M. Anesthesia for the three-hour surgery was handled by Carolyn Spitz, B.Sc. (Hons) B.V.M.&S. Veterinary technicians, nursing staff, and grooms stood by to help. Ian Campbell, D.V.M., a veterinarian and a farrier, was on hand after the surgery to glue a special shoe on Global Hunter’s opposite front foot while he was still under anesthesia to compensate for the height of the cast placed on the limb being repaired.
Avila kept a vigil during Global Hunter’s surgery, watching from the gallery.
Judy made the incision in Global Hunter’s right front leg to expose mid-body fractures in both sesamoids, which Herthel theorized had occurred when the horse took a bad step on the turf course. The sesamoid fractures, in turn, allowed the fetlock to dislocate.
Herthel said the main obstacles in an injury of this type are compromised blood flow and bones too damaged to hold the internal fixation. For Global Hunter, neither of these conditions was present.
“When we opened up the fetlock, it was obviously not in the right location,” Judy said. “It was completely dislocated, but what I really liked was how much it bled. The second I saw that, I knew we had a fighting chance because he had a reasonable blood supply into the entire foot.
“The other thing I liked was how solid his bone was. The cannon bone and the long pastern bone were both pretty much unaffected except for being dislocated. The proximal sesamoid bones had completely fractured, causing the breakdown and dislocation, but the bones we needed to secure our plates and our wires to were in good condition. So that gave us the ability to put everything back together in solid form.”
Surgical repair
During the three-hour surgery, Judy used the technique for fusing a fetlock developed by Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital chief surgeon Larry Bramlage, D.V.M., and the same type of locking compression plate Dean Richardson, D.V.M., had used to stabilize 2006 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Barbaro’s fracture sustained in that year’s Preakness Stakes (G1). In all, Judy inserted 17 screws, two wires, and the locking plate to make a solid structural repair.
“It wasn’t like Barbaro’s fracture at all,” Judy said, referring to the splinters and shards of bone Richardson had to painstakingly put back together. “With the mid-body sesamoid fractures, Global Hunter lost his suspensory apparatus and all the support in the back of his leg. He completely subluxated [dislocated] his fetlock joint, but the collateral ligaments were still intact. We actually had to recreate the suspensory apparatus using the wires, and that was the most difficult part of the surgery.”
Total anesthesia time for the horse was four hours, including surgical preparation and recovery. Afterward, Global Hunter appeared to be comfortable on all four limbs, an encouraging sign as the antsy athlete paced the stall at first, then settled down.
“A good patient is as important as a good repair,” Judy said. “This horse has a positive attitude, so we can’t take all the credit.”
“Global Hunter is extremely smart,” Herthel said. “He took care of himself getting here. He took care of himself when we laid him down, and he got up perfectly after four hours of anesthesia.”
For Turner, getting the news from Herthel that Global Hunter’s chance of survival had improved to 50-50 following surgery was like winning a Grade 1 race.
“Knocking on wood, according to the horse’s progress, his mentality, and his attitude, and the fine caretaking Alamo Pintado provides, that number is increasing dramatically,” Turner said.
Follow-up care
On July 6, Global Hunter received his first of six treatments in Alamo Pintado’s hyperbaric oxygen chamber, an important part of his recuperation and rehabilitation.
“You’re dealing with a vascular injury, so anything you can do to improve oxygenation to that area can improve healing,” said Herthel, who pioneered hyperbaric therapy in horses. “Hyperbarics can help decrease swelling and enhance oxygenation. Another thing is that it potentiates antibiotics, and this horse is on prophylactic antibiotics, which is really important so he doesn’t get an infection.”
Every surgery bears a risk of infection, but, luckily, Global Hunter’s fracture was a closed one, so there was no wound for dirt and debris from the turf course to invade.
Herthel also is a pioneer in stem-cell therapy, and he will use stem cells derived from Global Hunter’s bone marrow as a follow-up treatment. The stem cells are placed along the fracture line in the hope that they will evolve into osteocytes (bone cells) to form a more solid, bony union. Although the use of stem cells to heal fractures is in the experimental stage, some surgeons have achieved better healing of sesamoid fractures through stem-cell therapy.
Herthel takes a holistic approach to healing, which includes good nutrition and an individualized rehabilitation program.
“One of the reasons we feel so good about this horse is that his attitude is so good and his appetite is fantastic,” Herthel said. “He acts like nothing has happened.”
Global Hunter was in a cast for two weeks and was to transition to a support bandage after that.
“Right now, he’s at stall rest, and he can get out to graze,” Herthel said a few days after the surgery. “The biggest hurdle that we hopefully have gone past is that he did not get pneumonia from being under anesthesia for so long. His lungs look good on ultrasound, and his temperature is normal.”
The horse has been placed on Bio-Sponge, a supplement Herthel designed to promote gastrointestinal health. In this case, Bio-Sponge is being used to help Global Hunter’s gut ward off colitis that sometimes is a complication of antibiotic therapy. He also is receiving a daily triple dose of Platinum Performance, a supplement Herthel developed to aid in maintaining healthy bones in performance horses, to help repair the fracture.
“The high omega-3 and silicon levels in Platinum Performance enhance bone healing,” Herthel said. “They tend to swell less and have less inflammation.”
With any orthopedic injury of this severity, laminitis in the opposite limb is always a concern, but Global Hunter’s willingness to place an even load on all four feet is a good sign. Even without pain medication, he is not lame on the repaired fetlock.
“He’s walking sound, and that’s very, very important,” Herthel said. “If he wasn’t, we’d worry about the opposite leg getting laminitis.”
But the American Handicap winner is not out of the woods.
Global Hunter will spend the next two months at Alamo Pintado, while he is closely monitored and gradually rehabilitated. Rehabilitation will be low key because the horse will not return to race. The goal is to make him as comfortable as possible for a life that will include the breeding shed and green pastures.
Fan favorite
Cards, e-mails, and gifts from racing fans are rolling in, filled with wishes for a good recovery and a bright future.
On July 9, Turner launched Global Hunter’s own Facebook page. Two days later, without even announcing its existence, Turner said the page already had 179 loyal fans—with the number rapidly growing—who gave it a thumbs up.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of well-wishes, prayers, and messages of concern that all of us have received, so we were motivated to set something up to disseminate information,” Turner said. “The outpouring from the racing community has been tremendous, and I’m really just blown away by it all.”
The page displays frequent updates of Global Hunter’s status and daily videos of the horse’s progress, along with radiographs and other information about his injury, surgery, and recovery.
“To be here today after all the work that Dr. Herthel and Dr. Judy have done, and mostly because of the attitude of the horse, I’m just thrilled to know that we have a really good chance of saving this horse,” Turner said.
“Regardless what happens at this point, and we know it’s in God’s hands, we can all take pride in knowing that we tried our best, and I think the horse is trying his best, too,” Turner said. “That’s the main thing. So far, it’s all playing out far better than we could have ever dreamt.”
Denise Steffanus is a contributing editor of THOROUGHBRED TIMES who writes frequently on veterinary and farm management topics.
READER COMMENTS
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Posted by: JODY, KANSASVILLE, WI on October 23, 2010 at 02:36 PM
THANK YOU TO THE CONNECTIONS OF GLOBAL HUNTER FOR GIVING HIM A CHANCE TO SURVIVE! GOD SPEED
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Posted by: Monica, Fresno, CA on October 14, 2010 at 09:52 PM
God bless Global Hunter's connections, the surgeon's, and this horse. Thank you for sharing him with us :)
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Posted by: Mark, Las Vegas, NV on September 30, 2010 at 04:39 PM
One of the most hard knockin horses I have ever seen.I happy his owners are giving him a shot at life.He earned it.
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Posted by: Barbara, Ocean City, MD on August 08, 2010 at 12:51 PM
Wonderful news for a wonderful horse and his dedicated owners and team. Looking forward to seeing Global's upcoming birthday celebration.
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Posted by: Otherlyn, Grand Rapids, MI on August 06, 2010 at 04:01 PM
This update is very good news. I have watched GLOBAL HUNTER via HRTV and HTV since he first hit the American racing scene. I am one of the original FOB (Fans of Barbaro), and as such, am intimately familiar with the devastation of a breakdown, and laminitis. I also still reeling from the tragic loss of KIP DEVILLE this year. So, GLOBAL HUNTER's recovery is full of such bright promise I pray that our valiant GLOBAL HUNTER will continue to heal. Thank God that he is one of the fortunate ones, who's owners actually Love him enough to give him a chance to live. A lot of good will come from this. GLOBAL HUNTER is an outstanding individual, as well as a superb racehorse.
Bless you Boy! You did good, for now other horses may benefit from the lessons learned in connection to your healing. I proudly add the title FOGH to my spirit, as well as FOB.
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