I was disappointed in the article. I would have preferred if he had said somethhing like this'

Quote... when eight bells fractured both of her front legs (was it at the fetlock?), she would have been in excruciating pain. Immediate injections of painkillers, might have not have worked to alleviate this suffering, and because both legs were broken, and not just one, she would have had great difficulty standing up. When a horse cannot stand up, its internal organs get damaged, she could develop a twisted stomach, and other very painful and fatal conditions. Thus, it was with great sadness that "eight bell" was euthanized, as was "Go for Wand" immediately after her epic Breeders Cup Day match race with Patagonia. Eight bells, in coming in second to "big Brown", and thus beating 17 colts, showed her indominitable spirit. We will mourn her as an example of a wonderful filly...end quote. Stephen thompson

I don't get it, either. Barbaro and Eight Belles suffered two very different injuries. There was absolutely no question that she had to be euthanized out of sheer humaneness, and so the challenges of treating a horse with a broken rear leg is virtually irrelevant. The deafening silence is about how she broke both ankles after the race.