Florida Agriculture Commissioner Statement on Polo Horse Deaths

This is the statement I have been waiting for, from the State of Florida, which confirms that the deaths of the polo ponies in Wellington, Florida on Sunday afternoon were not related to a disease outbreak or public health concern.

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson has launched an investigation into the deaths of 21 horses that collapsed after arriving in Wellington, Florida, for a polo match. Initially, 14 horses died by Sunday evening and an additional seven died overnight.

Because of the very rapid onset of sickness and death, state officials suspect these deaths were a result of an adverse drug reaction or toxicity. At this time there is no evidence that these horses were affected with an infectious or contagious disease as there are no other horses affected at this time.

The department's Division of Animal Industry, headed up by the State Veterinarian, is involved in the investigation. The department's Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement is also participating and working with local law enforcement.

The horses have been transported to a Department of Agriculture laboratory in Kissimmee and to the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine for necropsies and toxicology testing. It could take several days before any test results are in or a cause of death is known.

"Obviously, this is a tragic situation and we are working hard to determine what happened," Bronson said. "But it would be irresponsible to speculate on what may have killed the horses. We will wait until the facts are in before making any specific comments on the case."

The horses were part of a team from Caracas, Venezuela, scheduled to play Sunday in match at the U.S. Open Polo Championship in Palm Beach County. The Lechuza Caracas team had been kept at the team's complex near the polo stadium. The horses were reportedly not showing any signs of illness as of Sunday morning. When the horses were offloaded at the event, some of the animals were dead and the remaining animals were showing severe symptoms of depression, respiratory problems, poor coordination, and recumbency. Despite treatment by veterinarians on site, these animals also died within a brief period of time.

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services officials will wait until test results are available before determining the next step in the investigation.

(end of statement)

So, the new question is: What happened to these horses? The answer: we may never know who did what to those horses and whether it was intentional or accidental. We all surely want to believe that it was an accident.

Yesterday was a dark, dark day for animal welfare and the credibility of horse sports. There's a lot of explaining to do but unless criminal charges are filed and an arrest is made, I wonder if we will ever find out what really happened.

Please read more posts on the Jurga Report about this news story.

Polo Tragedy in Florida as Venezuelan Horses Die at US Open

Reports from Wellington, Florida tonight are that a growing number of horses, as many as 14 and possibly more, died this afternoon and that several horses are gravely ill on the grounds of the International Polo Club Palm Beach, according to spectators and reports published on the web sites of the the Palm Beach Post, Sun Sentinel and Palm Beach Daily News.

While the accounts on the three web sites disagree on details, all three reports agree that the horses were all part of La LeChuza Caracas, the South American team headed by Venezuelan banker Victor Vargas. The team, one of the highest-regarded in the world, has been participating in the International Finals tournament in Wellington. The horses that died were very valuable animals.

Update: an 11 p.m. report from KTLA-TV agrees that 14 horses died and suggests the worst, that all the horses may have suffered a drug reaction and that some horses went down in the trailer en route to the match and were dead on arrival.

At this time this situation does not appear to be initiating any kind of a widespread health alert to the general horse population in Florida or to affect any livestock transport into or out of the state or county. An announcement should be made in a day or two from the state veterinarian or agriculture officials, who will conduct post-mortem examinations of the bodies. Several reports suggest that the bodies are being turned over to the diagnostic laboratory in Kissimmee, Florida.

I will update this post if I have more details. Thanks to everyone who has supplied information so far; I hope this is one of those stories that is not as bad as it sounds. I'm sorry that it is difficult to do much more than pass on links to local reports when a story breaks on Sunday afternoon, but it is safer than quoting an incorrect report published elsewhere.

Video: Everyone Is Talking About...The Sliding Diva!

by Fran Jurga | 2 February 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com



Plenty of prize money and international prestige were at stake at this weekend's Exquis World Dressage Masters Weekend series in Wellington, Florida. Congratulations to winners Stefan Peters, Anky van Grunsven, and Michael Barisone, winners of the Grand Prix, Freestyle, and Grand Prix Special, respectively.

But if it was a dressage show, why is that everyone is talking about Anky's exhibition of western riding?

That's right! The Olympic gold medalist came from Europe to compete in dressage but wowed the American crowd with an exhibition of her new skills in reining.

Rumor has it that Anky may try to make the Dutch reining team for the Alltech World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky in 2010.

The video from Dutch television gives you an idea of what Anky's demo may have been like. This demo was at Jumping Amsterdam in Holland recently. Anky is riding her American Quarter horse, Hilda's Smart Chic.

Anky rode Hilda's Smart Chic in a demo at Jumping Amsterdam recently.

Still photo courtesy of Anky van Grunsven.

Dr. Byars to Assess Wellington Situation at Thursday Meeting

The following is a press release received by The Jurga Report from Stadium Jumping Inc., via USEF. Phelps Sports' contact Ken Kraus reported this afternoon that Stadium Jumping is providing the location for the meeting but is not involved in the meeting.

(begin press release)
Wellington, FL – January 3, 2007 – Stadium Jumping, Inc. the producers of the Winter Equestrian Festival, the nation’s largest and longest running equestrian series, has announced that the Jockey Club will once again be made available for an important public forum to discuss the on-going EHV outbreak. The gathering will take place on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. The club is located alongside the Internationale Arena on the showgrounds located at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, Florida.

This will be the second Thursday in a row that area equestrians have assembled at the Jockey Club to discuss the EHV outbreak in Wellington.

“We feel it’s important to make our facility available for these types of community discussions,” said Eugene R. Mische, the President of Stadium Jumping, Inc. “We’re happy that Dr. Byars has agreed to lend his expert opinion to this on-going situation, and I look forward to hearing his assessment of where we’ve been and where we stand now. I also think it’s important,” Mische added, “that our area horsemen have a chance to voice any concerns they may have as we work our way to the start of the 2007 WEF show season.”

The key meeting was requested by Dr. John Steele and Dr. Ben Schachter, two respected Wellington area veterinarians, with over eighty years of experience between them. The meeting was called to bring concerned area equestrians up to date on the current EHV situation in Wellington, and will feature Dr. Doug Byars, the former head of Internal Medicine at Hagyard-Davidson-McGee in Lexington, Kentucky. The panel will also include Dr. Fred Petersen.

Byars is a recognized expert on the EHV virus, and will bring to the meeting his independent assessment of the EHV outbreak in Wellington following a complete tour of the area ‘hot spots’ on Wednesday.

Everyone in the Wellington community is welcome to attend this forum, beginning at 11 a.m. on Thursday.

(end press release)

Background article for horse owners on Equine Herpes Virus and, in particular, EHV-1, from the American Association of Equine Practitioners

Photo: John Steele DVM, show horse specialist veterinarian from Vernon, NY, and Ben Schacter DVM of Wellington Equine Associates in Lake Worth, Florida, were instrumental in bringing equine disease specialist Doug Byars DVM to Florida to assess the EHV outbreak. Dr. Steele travels to Florida in the winter months to provide services to his clients at their winter shows. Photo kindly provided by Kenneth Kraus/PhelpsSports.com