Equestrian Sports Blog Post

21 Horses Dead Before Polo Match, Possibly More

Equestrian Sports

There Must Be Something In The Water In Florida. I Mean... Besides The Alligators.

4/20/09 in Equestrian Sports | Pat | 4514 respect

The US Open polo tournament was supposed to be this week, but it looks like the Venezuelan team (and possibly others) are in rough shape, as at least 21 horses (possibly as many as 30) are dead.

There's no reported cause of death yet, and they're trying to figure out what has caused the horses to get dizzy, and simply fall to the ground. It sounds like a pretty gruesome scene, as the veterinarian on scene said that "Some died right away, and others lasted about 45 minutes."

The horses were each valued at over $100,000, and this is a huge blow to the tournament. The Venezuelan team may have to forfeit, and there's still the obvious risk of further deaths. This is definitely one of the more bizarre stories that you'll hear in a while.

Horse death toll up to 21 at polo club in Wellington [Sun-Sentinel]

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9/4/09 | glen_smuck0530

not dangerous

9/4/09 | glen_smuck0530

nmmmmmm...hope so its mot dangerous

8/28/09 | Emerald_Gold523

oh yeah!!

8/17/09 | kbearscollection | 4 respect

BluDevil wrote:

The article says poison isn't a possibility, but who knows?

I think the pharmacy should have rechecked before they sent the right thingwhen you give selenium you need very little. or the affect will be worse then the cure.it will kill them.

8/1/09 | exotic_dancer2009

i feel for the owners and the loss of all them horses is 2 much on any one hope they find the cause of it soon

7/29/09 | dakotahorse11

but thats a good thing u can't stay in football all the time! u gotta try new things

7/25/09 | baliarsinghganesh

hiiiiiiiiiiii

7/21/09 | EventingFreak

(Edited by EventingFreak)

I heard that a few months ago a polo team gave their horses EXTRA selenium thinking it would help make them a bit more hyper and give them more spring in their joints. Which backfired because now at least three(I think that is how many) of those horses are now gone back to the mud. That might be one cause.

5/30/09 | supertiana

when i lived in Florida and if i rember correctly there were alligators and rats around barns and some horses got sick but didnt die.

5/5/09 | trotgirl4

omg!!!!! poor horses............ thats sad