Video spoilers history, starting with the blitzkrieg on Poland

The question about the sky curtain is also a question raised by many netizens and ancient people who don’t know much about horses.

However, Tianmu immediately gave the answer.

[Yes, when a horse's leg is broken, the only fate that awaits it is often death.]

【The gun is the life of a soldier. 】

[And the horse's legs are the horse's life! ]

[On November 1998, 11, the audience at the Tokyo Racecourse held their breath.]

[Silent Suzuka rushed out of the gate like an arrow, running at an incredible speed in the first 1000 meters, far ahead of her opponents. ]

[But at the fourth bend, its left front leg suddenly twisted.]

[Slow motion shows that the root bone was shattered into powder in 0.03 seconds.]

[It is heartbreaking that the horse was able to maintain its balance despite the severe pain until it slowly came to a stop against the guardrail, preventing the jockey from falling.]

[That night, it was injected with euthanasia drugs. ]

[The tears falling from the corners of his eyes became the most heart-wrenching scene in the history of Japanese horse racing. ]

[At the 2021 Tokyo Olympic equestrian event, the Swiss athlete's horse "Jet" had its leg burst when crossing the last obstacle. 】

[This is despite the presence of a veterinary team on site with a million-dollar mobile surgical unit.]

[But ultrasound showed that the ligament was torn like cotton wool.]

[From injury to euthanasia, the entire process took only 17 minutes. ]

[Shorter than the award ceremony]

[In fact, in the horse racing industry, there are many horses like Silent Suzuka and Jet that have to be euthanized due to leg injuries.]

[According to statistics, in the United States, about 1000 horses die each year due to injuries such as fractures.]

[More than 80% of leg fracture cases among the world's top racehorses end in euthanasia.]

[A cruel reality lies before us: once a horse breaks its leg, death is often the fate that awaits them. ]

[You should know that in ancient times, top-level war horses such as the Ferghana horse were very valuable. ]

[Modern racehorses are also extremely valuable.]

[Racehorses are often served by the best veterinary teams.]

【Then, the situation of euthanasia still cannot be changed. 】

[What kind of curse is this? ]

[Even the most sophisticated veterinary technology is helpless? 】

【What is the reason behind this? 】

Today, we're going to take a closer look at why a horse will almost certainly die if it breaks its leg.

“A horse’s legs are not legs, but sophisticated biomechanical devices.”

【This is the consensus among anatomists.】

[An adult horse weighing 500 kilograms has leg bones that are thinner than a human arm.]

[Even more amazingly, the horse's legs have no muscles from the knee to the hoof, and only rely on 80 bones and ligaments to support the weight of the whole body.]

[An adult horse usually weighs between 500 and 1000 kilograms.]

[Such a heavy body is supported entirely by four thin legs. ]

[Imagine if you use a bamboo pole to support a truck, the slightest crack will cause it to collapse instantly.]

[This is exactly how fragile the horse's legs are.]

[When the horse runs, it is extremely fast, and the impact force it generates is amazing! ]

[The pressure on a horse's legs can be several times its body weight.]

[Once a horse breaks its leg, the extent of the damage to the fractured part is beyond imagination.]

[The key is that the internal structure of the horse's leg bones is very complex, and is filled with densely packed tiny blood vessels and nerves.]

[And the horse’s legs have almost no muscle cushioning.]

[Bones and tendons are directly exposed in high-speed movement. ]

[Once a bone is broken, the sharp bone fragments can cut arteries and ligaments like shards of glass.]

[At the moment of fracture, these blood vessels and nerves are like fragile threads and are easily damaged.]

[The horses' innate instinct to escape will cause them to continue struggling with their broken legs, causing the injury to worsen exponentially.]

[Then the horse was anesthetized and the surgery was performed.]

[You will also find that the horse's blood vessels are damaged, blood circulation will be blocked, the fracture site will not receive adequate nutrients, and healing will become extremely difficult. ]

[Also, the muscle and ligament tissue in a horse’s legs is extremely complex.]

[After a fracture, their normal function is completely disrupted.]

[Ma Lian could hardly keep his balance, let alone move normally.]

【Let’s focus on the horseshoe again. 】

[The hoof bone wrapped under the stratum corneum.]

【Its shape is like a sharp blade. 】

[This "knife" is usually protected by the hoof tissue, but when three legs are forced to bear the load of four legs. ]

[The blade can then pierce the protective layer, causing fatal laminitis.]

[Olympic horse "Jet" was not knocked out directly after tearing his ligament, but eventually had to be euthanized because his hoof bone pierced his flesh]

[The key is that the horse's legs are not only a tool for running, but also an engine for blood circulation! ]

The horse must remain standing at all times to maintain blood circulation.

[Through the "hoof circulation," every time a horse's hoof hits the ground it pumps blood throughout the body.]

[Once the leg is broken, the system will collapse.]

[70% of the body's blood will accumulate in the internal organs within 12 hours, causing fatal organ failure.]

[Veterinarians have tried to install prosthetic limbs for horses with broken legs, but horses that lose their natural ability to pump blood will have their internal organs gradually fail like a deflated balloon.]

[Horses cannot rest like humans, which is a fatal flaw given by evolution.]

[Their lungs need gravity to expand when they stand. Once they lie down for more than 4 hours, 30% of racehorses will suffocate due to aspiration pneumonia.]

【Just like after the silent Suzuka fall in 1998. 】

[Although it struggled to stand on three legs until the last moment, the fluid in its lungs was irreversible.]

[Even more cruelly, lying down can compress the eyeballs and cause blindness, and displacement of internal organs can cause intestinal torsion. These complications are more deadly than the fracture itself.]

Outside the sky.

Guan Yu stood outside the tent, his face solemn and his eyes full of regret.

He stretched out his big hand and gently stroked the Red Hare's mane.

"Red Hare, oh Red Hare, I only knew that a horse with a broken leg would have a hard time surviving, but I didn't know that the injury to a horse with a broken leg could be so serious."

"After seeing what the sky showed today, I finally realized that if a horse breaks its leg, it will have such a tragic fate."

Horses are actually very smart.

It seemed to have sensed Guan Yu's words and hummed twice.

Guan Yu also smiled.

"But don't worry, they are not like you. I will take good care of them."

"I have fought with you all my life, and I know how important you are to me. How could I let you get hurt so easily?"

"But the technology of later generations is so advanced."

"There have been many examples of complex surgeries on the sky dome, and the sophistication of those surgeries is simply breathtaking."

"By comparison, a broken bone shouldn't be considered a major surgery."

"Why is it that in later generations, it is impossible to treat a horse's broken bones?"

And the sky curtain continues. [What if you want to forcibly treat the horse's broken leg? ]

[It’s not impossible. ]

[It’s just that the difficulty is beyond imagination! ]

[When we humans have fractures, there are many modern medical methods, such as surgical reduction, plaster fixation, and steel plate implantation, which can slowly heal the fracture. ]

[However, these methods are difficult to apply to horses.]

[Let's talk about the surgical reduction first. Horses are huge, so the first step in performing surgery on them is to anesthetize them.]

[Don’t underestimate anesthesia. Giving anesthesia to horses is extremely risky.]

[The cardiopulmonary function of horses is very different from that of humans. If the anesthetic dosage is slightly off, the horse may suffer from respiratory depression and cardiac arrest, which is directly life-threatening.]

[Even after successfully anesthetizing, the surgical process is still full of challenges. ]

[The structure of the horse's leg is complex, and the space at the fracture site is small.]

[A veterinarian is like a walker groping in the dark, and needs to carefully align the broken bones precisely in this narrow space.]

【A slight mistake could lead to the failure of the operation.】

[Putting a plaster cast on a horse is not an easy task.]

[Horse legs have a special shape, not as regular as human limbs.]

[It is almost impossible to fix it perfectly like putting a plaster cast on a person.]

[And horses are naturally active and can't sit still for a moment. ]

[Even with a cast on, it's hard for it to stay still.]

[Due to the horse's active nature, the plaster cast may become loose and shift.]

[It has no effect on fixing the fracture site.]

[Not only that, the horse's skin is very sensitive, and if the plaster is applied for a long time, it will easily wear out and become inflamed. By the time the fracture is not healed, new injuries will be added.]

【Implantation of internal fixation devices such as steel plates? 】

[It seems like a solution, but it is difficult to implement in practice. ]

[First of all, to develop an internal fixation device suitable for horse legs, we have to consider the horse's bone structure and movement characteristics, and also ensure good biocompatibility with the horse's body. The difficulty of this research and development can be imagined.]

【It was developed with great difficulty. 】

[The implantation surgery is not simple either, and the risk of postoperative infection is particularly high. ]

[After surgery, horses need long-term rehabilitation care and have extremely demanding breeding environments.]

【Nursing staff also need to pay attention at all times. 】

[If you are not careful, once the infection occurs, not only will the fracture site have no hope of healing, but it may also cause systemic diseases, and the horse's life will be in danger. ]

The only lifeline is the suspension system.

[The horse's body was hoisted to reduce the burden on the legs, but this seemingly merciful technique was actually extremely painful.]

[A racehorse named "Thunder" struggled in the sling, causing a large area of ​​skin ulceration due to friction, and eventually died of sepsis. ]

[Statistics show that less than 5% of horses can tolerate being in a sling for more than two weeks.]

[Even if you survive the surgery, follow-up treatment is a real bottomless pit. ]

[Four antibiotic injections per day, hourly turning care, dedicated hydrotherapy pool maintenance]

[The average monthly cost of treating a horse with a broken leg is $3.]

In 2016, California Chrome, a Triple Crown candidate in Kentucky, suffered a tibia fracture.

[The horse owner spent $200 million and used a helicopter to transport a custom-made titanium alloy bone plate from Germany, and 12 veterinarians performed an eight-hour microsurgery.]

[Three months after the operation, it was kept in a special suspension cabin and received six laser treatments a day. The cost of rehabilitation alone was more than 6 times the annual income of an average family.]

[However, in exchange for this, the horse will only be able to limp for the rest of its life and will never be worth racing again.]

[This is because his net worth is indeed too high. ]

[The breeding value income can cover the cost of surgical treatment. 】

[Even if we grit our teeth and spend so much money, it is still unknown whether the horse can fully recover. ]

【Data from the Tokyo Racing Association. 】

[In the past decade, only two racehorse owners were willing to bear more than six months of treatment. ]

【Think about it from the perspective of the horse’s survival and animal welfare. 】

[In nature, horses rely on running to avoid predators and find food and water. Running is their survival skill.]

[Once a leg is broken, it is like a soldier losing his weapon and losing the fundamental ability to survive. ]

[Even if the horse is able to survive through treatment, it will no longer be able to run freely and enjoy the beauty of nature as before.]

【They can only struggle in pain. 】

【Long-term suffering from physical pain and mobility problems has seriously reduced the quality of life. 】

[From the perspective of animal welfare, rather than letting the horses suffer in endless pain, choosing a relatively humane way to end their lives may also be a helpless mercy. ]

……

The sky screen video ended and barrages of comments flew out one after another.

"Horses are animals that cannot stay still or rest. They have to stand up even when they sleep!"

"What's the difference between asking a horse to not move and asking a person to sleep standing up?"

"Existing technology can cure it, but the career is completely over from the moment the leg is broken, and the subsequent losses are astronomical figures. "

"Do you really think the horse owner is a good person? It's all about economic interests after all."

"Wouldn't it be fine to just put it in a backpack for a few days?"

"You're here to play Mount and Blade, right?"

"The horse's evolution skill tree is too extreme."

"Huh? The horse's mechanics are so bad? How did it survive until now?"

"Because horses met humans, no kidding. There were only a few odd-toed ungulates left. If humans had come a little later and not domesticated horses, odd-toed ungulates would have been completely replaced by even-toed ungulates."

"Now you know the significance of the miraculous resurrection of the Emperor of the East China Sea, right?"

"As expected of the God of Hakimi, there is something in the basement of Dibao."

"Hakimi? Isn't this a meme from our Douyin cat party? Next time you Japanese comic fans quote it, remember to indicate the source. "

《Golden Ship: It doesn't matter, I'm newly retired.》

……

Outside the sky.

Bole stood in front of the stable.

I just watched the video on the sky screen about the fate of horses after fractures, and my eyes were filled with sadness.

He slowly walked to a wounded horse that was about to be killed, and gently stroked the horse's back, as if he could feel the pain of the injured horses.

"Alas," Bole sighed, "it turns out that there are so many difficulties and obstacles after a horse breaks its bone."

“In the past, I just knew that it was difficult for a horse to survive after a broken bone.”

"But I didn't know it would be so hard to live, and so painful!"

Bole's disciple nearby also echoed: "They are all good horses. It's a pity that they died like this."

Bole nodded, his eyes revealing his pity for the horse, "Yes, I have been judging horses all my life, and have seen countless good horses. Each horse has its own unique spirituality."

He stroked the horse in front of him again and said softly:
"Later, when we're at the horse-viewing place."

“We should not only focus on the horse’s physique and endurance, but also pay more attention to the health of their legs.”

“These horses are not just livestock to us, they are companions.”

"Do you understand?" (End of this chapter)