21 Horses drop dead before Polo Match - Updated

We have a horse who is a escape artist too. He even knows how to open clips. He has a new trick too, he lets out other horses. We have to be so careful with him. All food is kept in the connecting barn and the door is kept shut. We finally found a clip he hasn't been able to master. Sometimes I forget the clip if I'm sidetracked closing the other stall doors when I'm in a hurry. It's a rush when they all come in the barn at once. They all go to their stalls by themselves.

I'm hoping a new viruse hasn't made it to the states by these horses. Did they come straight from Venezuella? This is what concerns me the most. One more thing to worry about. I used to vaccinate for Potomac Horse Fever until I found out they can still get it with the shot.

I just got off the phone with a friend who lives down there and she said a couple years ago the same thing happened. They found out the cause withing 24 hours that is was from the shots they had been given. I haven't verified that story yet.

reply to post by hardamber


CNN article here www.cnn.com... where the chief vet with the NY Racing Assn says she suspects a tainted substance was injected. That's also what I suspect. Horses don't just drop dead like that.

My barrel horse was a hand full sometimes. One day he got me trapped in the trailer and just stood there, looking at me with a grin. Guess he was telling me he just wasn't going to jackpot that night! Thank goodness the escape door on the trailer wasn't latched outside or no telling how long I would have had to sit there and wait for him to move. He was never a problem loading, but he just refused to load that day no matter what I did.
Went over him head to toe, checked his temp, heart rate, etc. and couldn't find a thing wrong. Ended up staying most of the night in the barn with him just in case there was something going on. I finally figured out he was just being a horses azz! And I never again allowed the trailer door to swing shut before I got him loaded.

Originally posted by wayno
I know this is unthinkable, but any chance of politics here? Someone down there in the states thinking that this might be a (sick) way to get back at Chavez or Venezuela?

My first thought when I read this on the news this morning was that all of these horses were from Venezuela. This had to have happened when the horses were enroute. Nothing in the barns as no others horses have been affected by whatever it was that killed them. Spidey senses say this was an intentional act, whether is was something injected, or put into the food and/or water, on these particular horses and the country from which they came.

Now, I will say, I feel so bad for these horses. I absolutely HATE the thought of a poor innocent animal suffering, being mistreated or dying.

reply to post by inthesticks


hehe, it sounds like your horse chumped you. I had a thorobred who used to chump me all the time. He suddenly had new tricks and behaviours that I just wasn't up to. I've started watching Clinton Anderson and I'm learning so much now. It's making my two new projects go so much easier. I wish I had known these methods before I got rid of my naughty thorobred.

It was very wise of you to keep your horse under observation.

I hope the problem in Florida is related to what was injected in them, and not anything contageous. I am so sorry for their loss though.

It can't be a gas problem or the people on hand to treat the animals would have shown symptoms as well

I smell insurance fraud/poison

It seems that the horses' deaths were caused by an injected supplement..... one of the ingredients in a vitamin supplement was at the wrong strength.

A pharmacy has come forward to take responsibility....but there may still be some elements to sort out...

the politically connected Venezuelan multimillionaire who owns the 21 horses indicated he suspected his team's own veterinarian played a role in the deaths of some of the polo ponies

www.miamiherald.com...

Tox reports are still pending...
www.time.com...

Such a sad way for otherwise athletic, healthy animals to go.....

[edit on 24-4-2009 by frayed1]