Barbaro Recovering Well After Breaking Leg

It was good news when earlier today doctors in Pennsylvania said that racehorse "Barbaro" survived an all day surgery after breaking one of his hind legs in three places at the start of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. My wife and I watch in horror as this beautiful and proud horse was pulled up just as the race began.

While neither of us are big beaters on the pony’s, we love to watch horse racing and my wife just loves horses, period. Right before the accident we were sitting on our couch and talking about how "Barbaro" seemed to be playing around with other horses right before the race. We saw him doing the same kind of thing at the "Kentucky Derby" just a few weeks earlier. Whether a person was supporting "Barbaro" or not, what happened at the Preakness on Saturday was hard to watch from a strictly human point of view.

I read in our local newspaper today that thousands of people were in tears at the race track after this accident happened and many made signs that ask for "Barbaro" not to be put down and that they would buy the horse right there on the spot if necessary. I must admit I had these same emotions watching "Barbaro's" jockey, "Edgar Prado", stop the horse gently after he broke his leg and completely fell into tears once he got some help to the track calming "Barbaro" down.

People often say that the breeding of horses is a sport for the rich and famous. Most likely this is because of the tremendous amount of money that is necessary in the breeding, raising and racing of horses. It wasn't that long ago when I saw a movie called "Dreamer" where a horse in a similar situation was saved from death at the last minute by his trainer. That heart-warming movie was going through my mind in the minutes after this tragic accident in Maryland on Saturday.

There are people who think that too much is being made of worrying about an animal like a horse. I guess the old saying is true that there are animal people and then there are folks with no heart. I may not raise horses, but they are one of Gods great creatures and what makes them so special to me is that each horse seems to have a unique personality, just like human beings do.

I will hope and pray for a speedy recover of "Barbaro" and while doctors give him only a 50/50 change of ultimate survival; his odds are still greater than if his owner decided to put him down on that racetrack Saturday afternoon.

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Americans Are Trying To Solving Sleep Problems

The newest topic on many television news broadcasts, recently, are about how much trouble many Americans have getting a good night sleep these days. I can relate to this subject because I, too, have trouble getting a good night of sleep. I have had trouble getting to sleep ever since I was a young boy. My thinking has always been that sleep evades me because I can’t seem to get my mind to slow down when I get ready to get some sleep. Most of the day and night my mind is running in overdrive thinking about issues and problems of the day.

There are many techniques experts have recommended to me over the years such as turning off the television and computer at least one hour before I go to bed. I’ve tried those techniques without much success to date. Other experts have suggested that I not eat two or three hours before bed and/or give up caffeine drinks entirely. I’ve tried these tips too, but they don’t work for me either. As I’ve aged I have just accepted the fact that I’m not going to get a full eight hours of sleep at night without the aid of some kind of medication.

Over the years I have turned to my family doctor for prescriptions to help me sleep when it is absolutely necessary because of events or circumstances. The last time was about five years ago when my father way dying and the family had to take turns sitting with him during his final few months of life. Since everyone was working in shifts to help out, I would not have been able to do my part without at least six hours of sleep per night. My problem isn’t getting a full nights sleep once I am a sleep, it’s getting to sleep in the first place that has always been my problem.

I wish I could find a way to turn off my mind from racing through different issues and problems which I encounter each day, but nothing I try seem to work that well. There are other folks I’ve talked to that have an easy time getting to sleep, but they can’t stay asleep the entire night. Many people keep waking up over and over, dozens of times per night. In a way I’m glad I don’t have that problem because it’s so hard for me to get to sleep in the first place, I would never get back to sleep if I kept waking up all the time.

There are some folks who go to sleep clinics so doctors and other experts can wire them up to high tech machines to see what’s going on inside their brains as they are falling asleep and what is happening in the brain as they dream. I have never been to one of these clinics, but they have been recommended before. I have a feeling that I would never fall asleep in the first place with all those electrodes and wires running from my head. I would consider myself a rough sleeper because I seem to be all over the bed as the night goes along and I’m pretty sure I would rip those electrodes out at some point during my sleep test.

At least I know I’m not alone with sleep problems. The latest research I have read says that over 50% of people worldwide have some problem getting a good nights sleep. This is one time I would much prefer to be in the minority rather than the majority in a research study!