Saturday, April 26, 2008
Press Statement #2
Frodo Baggins and Laine Ashker fell at fence 5. Ashker sustained injuries but was conscious, talking and able to move all extremities when she was transported to the University of Kentucky Hospital. She is currently under the care of the emergency and trauma services staff.
Frodo Baggins was immediately attended by a team of veterinarians. He was given intravenous fluids and supportive medications for shock and pain. After he was stabilized, he was sedated and transported by horse ambulance to nearby Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, where he was immediately attended by emergency personnel.
Further tests showed that Frodo Baggins had sustained a fracture at the base of his skull, as well as severe lung injury. As the prognosis was very poor, a representative of the family concurred that euthanasia was the most humane option for the horse. A complete necropsy examination will be performed. Everyone at the event is saddened by the loss of this brave horse.
Equestrian Events, Inc.
Link: Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event
From this article: Rider injured at Rolex 3-Day Event | courier-journal | The Courier-Journal
...“I saw the horse coming in,” Roska said, “and it looked like he went up to jump and hit just about (at) his chest – his front legs barely cleared it – and he just flipped over, through the jump, and landed on top of the rider.
“They got the horse up and he was standing fine. The rider was already surrounded so I couldn’t see her -- but then the horse, about a minute later -- it looked like he got spooked by something and turned around and fell over.”
Frodo Baggins, a 12-year-old thoroughbred that Ashker bought six years ago, was bred in New Zealand and named for the character in “Lord of the Rings.”
According to a February article by Charlie Leffler in Ashker’s hometown paper, The Goochland Gazette, the horse actually appeared in the movie “Lord of the Rings.”
Ashker didn’t know that until she had the horse home in Virginia, the paper said.
Ashker told the paper: “His real owner told me, ‘Oh by the way, this horse has been in Lord of the Rings’.”
The owner sent Ashker photographs to prove his claim, the paper said.
“The horses had to train for eight months in New Zealand, and they chose about 20 black horses to film the movie,” Ashker told the Gazette. “Frodo was one of them.”
Frodo played in one of the film’s most memorable scenes, the paper said. Early in the movie when the hero hobbits are hiding along a roadside, Frodo and his “dark rider” come to a halt above them.
After filming, the story continued, Frodo was one of six horses chosen to appear at the movie premiere. “He met the prime minister of New Zealand,” Ashker said in the article. “He walked down the red carpet with Elijah Wood and did parades, and it was amazing.”
Rest in Peace, Frodo.