14 horses die just before polo match

CNN.com ^ | 04/19/09 | uncredited

[Big_Monkey]

(CNN) -- Fourteen thoroughbred horses dropped dead in a mysterious scene Sunday before a polo match near West Palm Beach, Florida, officials said.

State and local veterinary teams are trying to figure out what happened at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida, as team Lechuza Caracas prepared to compete in a U.S. Open match.

Two horses initially collapsed, and as vets and team officials scrambled to revive them, five others became dizzy, said Tim O'Connor, spokesman for the polo club.

"A total of seven died on our property," O'Connor told CNN. Seven other horses died en route to a Wellington horse farm and a veterinary hospital.

The cause of the deaths has not been determined, and necropsies and blood tests were underway, he said.

[Squantos]

Weird........ what horse owner would allow any vet to inject anything into their animal before a competition. Especially a unlicensed , unknown hack ? More to this gonna come out.

Dang !

Thanks for the update !!.....:o)

[VeniVidiVici]

How can you tell if a horse is dizzy?

If he starts mumbling about pink donkeys.

[this_ol_patriot]

The horses were on the Venezuelan-based Lechuza Caracas team, the vet worked for the team but was not licensed in the US. Don't know if the injected steroids are allowed in Polo but apparently it was bad stuff and killed the horses.

[mountn man]

I dabbled in polo when in my 20s but was never good at it.

I dabbed on polo when in my 20s but was never good at it. :)

[Lockbar]

Remember what Tony did to Ralphie after he figured out that Ralph killed Pie-Oh-My for insurance money.

[hosepipe]

WHOever was doping the horses grabbed the wrong chemical vial..

[Cloverfarm]

My first thought would be a mix-up with fly repellants since they all collapsed right before the match. If someone applied a concentrate instead of a diluted product, for instance.

[Cloverfarm]

(Note to self ... read the rest before replying)

Yup, doping the horses would do it, too.

[Hot Tabasco]

I dabbled in polo

My cousing use to run a polo and equestrian center in Ft. Myers FL a number of years ago.......

[JRios1968]

They’re just pining for the fjords...

[lastchance]

The death toll is now at 21. How sad for everyone who cares for these horses.

[Squantos]

Thanks for the info.

[soozla]

You can buy needles at any Tractor Supply and most horse owners prefer to give their own injections, just for the sake of time, in the event of an emergency, etc. Most GOOD, RESPONSIBLE horse owners know how to vet their own horses - you have to be able to do the basics, sometimes, in rural settings, it is a matter of life and death for the animal until the “real” vet comes, or, if you can get the horse onto a trailer, get them to an equine clinic. Remember, they are not cats or dogs, you can’t just stuff them in a carrier, pick it up and away you go in your Jetta!