JupiterSunsation
04-20-2009, 04:12 PM
MMark was talking about buying a racehorse and naming it my face......well stay away from 2 million dollars worth of polo horses pumped full of steroids.......
Team that lost 21 horses withdraws from U.S. Polo Open
April 20, 2009
WELLINGTON — The Lechuza Caracas Polo team has withdrawn from the U.S. Open Polo Championship after 21 horses died Sunday before a polo match.
Tim O'Connor, spokesperson for the International Polo club Palm Beach, confirmed the drop out this afternoon. The U.S. Open Polo Championship, a 105-year-old tournament that bills itself as the oldest such event in the United States, is considered to be the most prestigious in the nation.
A team veterinarian said this morning that steroids probably did not play a part in the deaths.
The horses, all from the same team, died one by one, "almost certainly of an intoxication of some sort that they consumed," said Lechuza Caracas team veterinarian James Belden, a local vet who was among those pumping intravenous fluids into the horses, trying to save them. Belden doesn't travel with the team but said he does not believe the horses were given anabolic steroids because the team competes in England, where such drugs are prohibited.
"Almost certainly they don't use anabolic steroids," Belden said.
He also said tainted medication - a concern raised late Sunday - was not likely because the horses are cared for diligently.
"I've been in practice 50 years," Belden said. "I've never seen anything like this."
Belden said as the horses died, the Lechuza staff - including the grooms - were inconsolable.
"They're crestfallen. The grooms were crying the other day," Belden said. "They live with these horses."
Lechuza's team owner, Venezuelan multimillionaire Victor Vargas, was in the club when the horses fell ill.
"There were tears in his eyes," said Scott Swerdlin, a member of the Palm Beach Equine Clinic, describing the scene as Vargas watched the ponies die.
"He's a very hands-on owner. He's one of the players. He was devastated when the horses fell sick. He was holding them in his hands," added John A. Walsh, president of operations for the International Polo Club.
After the horses collapsed, all matches were cancelled.
The Lechuza Caracas team was scheduled to play Sunday in a match as part of the U.S. Open Polo Championship at the International Polo Club Palm Beach on 120th Avenue South. Each polo team at this level of play typically brings about 24 horses to a match.
Lechuza's horses began breathing heavily and stumbling at the Lechuza equestrian facility even before they were brought to the polo club, said Swerdlin, citing information he was told.
The horses became wobbly, their lungs filled with fluid and they eventually succumbed to cardiac arrest, Belden said.
Necropsies and blood tests will be done on the dead horses at a state-run clinic in Kissimmee. The carcasses were taken intact to the facility Sunday afternoon. Results could come as early as today.
Swerdlin wouldn't speculate on what happened to the horses.
"I don't guess," he said. "I wait for evidence."
"It could be the water, hay, bedding, we just don't know. When we find out what it is, we will take all the necessary actions," Walsh said.
Polo horses typically aren't insured.
If the necropsies show the horses were illegally drugged, the Florida Department of Agriculture will conduct an investigation, O'Connor said. The U.S. Polo Association likely also would conduct an investigation.
At the highly competitive level of the Wellington tournament, distributing "cocktails" to horses prior to matches to enhance their performance is a common practice, said several polo experts. The steroid-like chemicals are given to horses mixed with their water or can be administered by needle, the sources said.
According to several sources, the horses had a reaction to a steroid derivative that may have been tainted with a cleaning solution, the Sun Sentinel reported yesterday. The shots apparently were administered by an Argentine vet not licensed in the U.S., the newspaper reported.
The horses were noticeably sick about 2:15 p.m. Sunday.
"They started getting dizzy," O'Connor said . "They dropped down right onto the grass."
The horses, sprawled by the field, were obscured by blue tarps as teams of veterinarians worked feverishly to revive them. Most of the spectators were unaware of the horse's illness.
A few onlookers ringed the tense little makeshift camp, weeping as they caught sight of the stricken horses.
"When they keeled over, the veterinarians ran cold water on them. We got fans out that shoot a fine mist of water to try to get their temperature down, just like you would with a person if they overheated," said Jimmy Newman, polo club manager.
As the veterinarians worked, officials at the polo club told spectators that the scheduled match, between Lechuza Caracas and Black Watch, had been canceled. A short time later, officials announced an exhibition match would be held instead.
By Sunday night, 14 horses were confirmed dead and seven others were sick. Despite efforts to save them, every horse that had fallen ill was dead by Monday morning.
Several horses met a similar fate in Ocala last year, said Dean Turney, executive director of the Wellington Equestrian Alliance. In that case, Turney said, the sickness was linked to contaminated feed.
"They were able to identify the source very quickly, within 24 hours," Turney said. "Another day or two after that, they got the lab results and they confirmed what the problem was."
In this more recent case, each of the dead polo ponies, which were all between 10 and 11 years old, was valued at about $100,000, O'Connor said.
"This is an especially sad day for polo," said Donald Dufresne, who sits on the U.S. Polo Association's Equine Protection and Welfare Committee. "We've never experienced anything like this before."
Peter Rizzo, executive director of the U.S. Polo Association, who was in the club when the horses fell ill, didn't return a call for comment.
The polo community still was waiting for answers this afternoon.
"Wellington is fortunate that we have several top-notch equine veterinarians, and they will be all over this," Turney said. "It will be tracked down."
Team that lost 21 horses withdraws from U.S. Polo Open
April 20, 2009
WELLINGTON — The Lechuza Caracas Polo team has withdrawn from the U.S. Open Polo Championship after 21 horses died Sunday before a polo match.
Tim O'Connor, spokesperson for the International Polo club Palm Beach, confirmed the drop out this afternoon. The U.S. Open Polo Championship, a 105-year-old tournament that bills itself as the oldest such event in the United States, is considered to be the most prestigious in the nation.
A team veterinarian said this morning that steroids probably did not play a part in the deaths.
The horses, all from the same team, died one by one, "almost certainly of an intoxication of some sort that they consumed," said Lechuza Caracas team veterinarian James Belden, a local vet who was among those pumping intravenous fluids into the horses, trying to save them. Belden doesn't travel with the team but said he does not believe the horses were given anabolic steroids because the team competes in England, where such drugs are prohibited.
"Almost certainly they don't use anabolic steroids," Belden said.
He also said tainted medication - a concern raised late Sunday - was not likely because the horses are cared for diligently.
"I've been in practice 50 years," Belden said. "I've never seen anything like this."
Belden said as the horses died, the Lechuza staff - including the grooms - were inconsolable.
"They're crestfallen. The grooms were crying the other day," Belden said. "They live with these horses."
Lechuza's team owner, Venezuelan multimillionaire Victor Vargas, was in the club when the horses fell ill.
"There were tears in his eyes," said Scott Swerdlin, a member of the Palm Beach Equine Clinic, describing the scene as Vargas watched the ponies die.
"He's a very hands-on owner. He's one of the players. He was devastated when the horses fell sick. He was holding them in his hands," added John A. Walsh, president of operations for the International Polo Club.
After the horses collapsed, all matches were cancelled.
The Lechuza Caracas team was scheduled to play Sunday in a match as part of the U.S. Open Polo Championship at the International Polo Club Palm Beach on 120th Avenue South. Each polo team at this level of play typically brings about 24 horses to a match.
Lechuza's horses began breathing heavily and stumbling at the Lechuza equestrian facility even before they were brought to the polo club, said Swerdlin, citing information he was told.
The horses became wobbly, their lungs filled with fluid and they eventually succumbed to cardiac arrest, Belden said.
Necropsies and blood tests will be done on the dead horses at a state-run clinic in Kissimmee. The carcasses were taken intact to the facility Sunday afternoon. Results could come as early as today.
Swerdlin wouldn't speculate on what happened to the horses.
"I don't guess," he said. "I wait for evidence."
"It could be the water, hay, bedding, we just don't know. When we find out what it is, we will take all the necessary actions," Walsh said.
Polo horses typically aren't insured.
If the necropsies show the horses were illegally drugged, the Florida Department of Agriculture will conduct an investigation, O'Connor said. The U.S. Polo Association likely also would conduct an investigation.
At the highly competitive level of the Wellington tournament, distributing "cocktails" to horses prior to matches to enhance their performance is a common practice, said several polo experts. The steroid-like chemicals are given to horses mixed with their water or can be administered by needle, the sources said.
According to several sources, the horses had a reaction to a steroid derivative that may have been tainted with a cleaning solution, the Sun Sentinel reported yesterday. The shots apparently were administered by an Argentine vet not licensed in the U.S., the newspaper reported.
The horses were noticeably sick about 2:15 p.m. Sunday.
"They started getting dizzy," O'Connor said . "They dropped down right onto the grass."
The horses, sprawled by the field, were obscured by blue tarps as teams of veterinarians worked feverishly to revive them. Most of the spectators were unaware of the horse's illness.
A few onlookers ringed the tense little makeshift camp, weeping as they caught sight of the stricken horses.
"When they keeled over, the veterinarians ran cold water on them. We got fans out that shoot a fine mist of water to try to get their temperature down, just like you would with a person if they overheated," said Jimmy Newman, polo club manager.
As the veterinarians worked, officials at the polo club told spectators that the scheduled match, between Lechuza Caracas and Black Watch, had been canceled. A short time later, officials announced an exhibition match would be held instead.
By Sunday night, 14 horses were confirmed dead and seven others were sick. Despite efforts to save them, every horse that had fallen ill was dead by Monday morning.
Several horses met a similar fate in Ocala last year, said Dean Turney, executive director of the Wellington Equestrian Alliance. In that case, Turney said, the sickness was linked to contaminated feed.
"They were able to identify the source very quickly, within 24 hours," Turney said. "Another day or two after that, they got the lab results and they confirmed what the problem was."
In this more recent case, each of the dead polo ponies, which were all between 10 and 11 years old, was valued at about $100,000, O'Connor said.
"This is an especially sad day for polo," said Donald Dufresne, who sits on the U.S. Polo Association's Equine Protection and Welfare Committee. "We've never experienced anything like this before."
Peter Rizzo, executive director of the U.S. Polo Association, who was in the club when the horses fell ill, didn't return a call for comment.
The polo community still was waiting for answers this afternoon.
"Wellington is fortunate that we have several top-notch equine veterinarians, and they will be all over this," Turney said. "It will be tracked down."