# NYTimes: "Shared Belief Euthanized" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 4, 2015, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nytimes-shared-belief-euthanized/739399 "2015-12-04T12:22:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nytimes-shared-belief-euthanized/739399/1 "2015-12-04T12:22:53Z")
A sign of the Apocolypse?!?!?! Not in the Sports section: > [@](#): > > Shared Belief, the champion 2-year-old male in an undefeated 2013 season, was euthanized in Albany, Calif., after a bout with colic. Shared Belief, a gelding, won 10 of 12 career starts and had earnings of more than $2.9 million. He missed the 2014 Triple Crown series because of foot problems. Sorry for the loss of the animal. I didn’t know colic could be terminal. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nytimes-shared-belief-euthanized/739399/2 "2015-12-04T12:35:24Z")
“Colic” is a very general term referring to abdominal pain. _Many_ colics lead to euthanasia. Horses cannot vomit. Eating too much grain at once, intra-abdominal strangulating lipomas, mild dehydration, rabies, etc can all cause colic. Practically speaking, many colic cases that could be addressed surgically lead to euthaised due to economics. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nytimes-shared-belief-euthanized/739399/3 "2015-12-04T13:13:04Z")
Ah, thank you. Digestive problems killing shared beliefs sound like a commentary on how Congress can’t move bills through due to lack of compromise. Well, maybe in the NYTimes…😛 ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nytimes-shared-belief-euthanized/739399/4 "2015-12-04T17:19:47Z")
The wiki page has a riculously long list of all the various types of colic that can kill a horse - > **[Horse colic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_colic)** > > Colic in horses is defined as abdominal pain, but it is a clinical symptom rather than a diagnosis. The term colic can encompass all forms of gastrointestinal conditions which cause pain as well as other causes of abdominal pain not involving the gastrointestinal tract. The most common forms of colic are gastrointestinal in nature and are most often related to colonic disturbance. There are a variety of different causes of colic, some of which can prove fatal without surgical intervention. Col Co... Colic is one of the leading causes of death in a horse. While it’s true that many types of colic can be cured surigically, it’s also true that surgery itself can be complicated on horses due to their need to stand squarely on all four feet in order to avoid laminitis (a potentially fatal illness caused by a horse laying down too much or not standing with their weight balanced squarely). Horses are just sadly fragile beasts. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nytimes-shared-belief-euthanized/739399/5 "2015-12-04T19:19:30Z")
First [God](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=583041), and now Shared Belief. Why, _New York Times_? WHY? ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nytimes-shared-belief-euthanized/739399/6 "2015-12-04T20:36:12Z")
According to Dick Francis, a horse’s viscera is not connected to itself like humans’ are. Therefore, it can get all twisted around and obstructed way easier. _Comeback_ is the name of the book where this is talked about BTW. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nytimes-shared-belief-euthanized/739399/7 "2015-12-04T20:41:05Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > The wiki page has a riculously long list of all the various types of colic that can kill a horse - > [Horse colic - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_colic) And here is [a ridiculously long list](http://ppgworldservices.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/vet-school.jpg) of all the corresponding treatments.