Mickey Taylor Pays Tribute to Slew's Surgeon

A trip to see Seattle Slew in his last couple of years at Three Chimneys Farm was equal parts hero worship and medical education. The 1977 Triple Crown winner, even in his late 20s, exuded presence; you knew immediately you were gazing upon royalty.

That point was driven further home by his human companions, who were unfailingly at his side: owners Karen and Mickey Taylor and longtime groom Tom Wade. Slew had his own barn, and in it the Taylors played music they hand-picked for Slew over a stereo and also had a flexible model of an equine spine that they would use to explain the surgery that Slew had undergone that turned him from a wobbler into a stable horse who could enjoy exercise and even briefly return to the breeding shed. Seeing Wade and the Taylors hand-walk their champion over Three Chimneys’ gentle hills is a memory witnesses don’t forget.

The anterior inter-body fusion procedure, which consisted of implanting a small basket between two vertebrae in the neck, was developed by an orthopedic surgeon from Spokane, Wash., named Dr. George Bagby. Dr. Bagby passed away at age 93 Dec.12, but will forever remain in the hearts of the Taylors.

“It was remarkable what that operation did for Slew,” said Mickey Taylor Dec. 21. “It gave him an extra couple of years of very comfortable life. Give a lot of credit to Dr. Bagby and Dr. Barrie Grant for operating on a 26-year-old horse. It was an amazing operation that has been perfected now and done on a lot of horses.”

Dr. Bagby started doing the procedure on dogs, then horses. Today it is performed on humans as well. A small, hollow metal cylinder with perforated walls is packed with bone graft and, after being inserted between the vertebrae, allows the graft to grow through the holes in the wall to eventually form a solid bond that holds the vertebrae in position.  The cylinder is known as a “Bagby Basket.”

At the beginning of 2000, Seattle Slew began to show a lack of coordination. As the neurological problem was treated, Slew’s fertility declined. He underwent the first surgery in March 2000 at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital. The Bagby Basket led to “a remarkable physical recovery,” said Mickey Taylor, and Slew returned to breeding in 2001. A second surgery was performed on him in 2002 after further spinal cord compression was found due to arthritic changes. He lived several months after that procedure and died on May 7, 2002.

“Dr. Bagby’s invention not only saved Seattle Slew’s life, it improved the quality of his life,” said Taylor who, like Bagby, is a native of Washington State. “Slew lived for two more years after his initial surgery, showing us his tremendous strength and spirit to overcome obstacles. For that and the extra time we were given with Slew, we will always owe Dr. Bagby our gratitude.”