St Nicholas Abbey Update: Healing Leg Fracture and the Origin of His Name

Champion racehorse St Nicholas Abbey in his stall at the Fethard Equine Hospital in Ireland, where he is recovering from a fractured pastern suffered while training at the nearby Ballydoyle training center of Coolmore's racing division head trainer Aidan O'Brien.

Today Coolmore Stud released an update on injured racehorse St Nicholas Abbey:

"While still having a guarded prognosis St Nicholas Abbey has had his best week since his initial surgery!

"Since the pin removal his weight bearing on the injured leg has improved gradually and he is walking as well as can be expected with a cast.

"St Nicholas Abbey seems more content, lying down several times a night to rest and his appetite is excellent so he is starting to thrive.

"His temperature has stabilized and blood work has normalized.

"Surgeons Dr Kelly & Dr O’Brien are more upbeat on his prognosis however there are many weeks to go before St Nicholas Abbey is out of danger."

St Nicholas Abbey, who is six years old and is a multiple Group One winner (including the Breeders Cup Turf), was forced to undergo colic surgery soon after his leg fracture was stabilized with plates and screws in late July. A rod was inserted through his limb to redirect weightbearing. Last week, a radiograph revealed that the rod had broken and it was removed.

It's a tradition to swim racehorses in the morning in Barbadaos, both for conditioning and for rehabilitation, and maybe even for fun.

In case you are curious about this horse's name, it is no doubt a tribute to the St Nicholas Abbey sugar plantation and great house in Barbados, which is also a racing and polo center for horse world snowbirds during the winter months. St Nicholas Abbey, which has a fascinating history, was recently opened to guests, so you can visit there when you're on the island. And yes, they have their own brand of St Nicholas Abbey rum.

To learn more:
Vet Video: Fractured Pastern Surgically Repaired on Champion St Nicholas Abbey; Details on Work by Irish-American Surgical/Medical Team (August 2)

St Nicholas Abbey Fracture Fixation Pin Breaks (August 28)

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: The Hoof Blog (Hoofcare Publishing) has not received any direct compensation for writing this post. Hoofcare Publishing has no material connection to the brands, products, or services mentioned, other than products and services of Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.