Twenty-one magnificent polo ponies, each valued at up to US$200,000, stumbled from their trailers and crumpled one by one onto the green grass at a championship event in Florida — stunning deaths that veterinarians said on Monday may have been caused by a toxin in the animals’ feed, vitamins or supplements.
The deaths on Sunday shocked the equestrian community in central Palm Beach County, where the International Polo Club Palm Beach hosts the US Open Polo Championship every year.
The horses from the Lechuza Polo team, which is Venezuelan-owned, became ill just before a tournament match, collapsing and dying on the spot or while being treated at vet clinics or transported, officials said.
“The players, the owners of the horses were in tears. Bystanders and volunteers were in tears. I mean, this was a very tragic thing,” said Tony Coppola, 62, an announcer for the International Polo Club Palm Beach.
“This was devastating. It was heartbreaking to see that many horses get sick all at once,” said John Wash, president of club operations.
Scott Swerdlin, a veterinarian at Palm Beach Equine Clinic near the polo grounds, treated one of the sick horses. He said it appeared that the animals had died of heart failure caused by some kind of toxin that could have been in tainted food, vitamins or supplements, or by some combination of all three that caused a toxic reaction.
Toxicology tests were pending on Monday.
The 60-horse team is owned by Venezuelan banker Victor Vargas, but most of the horses and players are Argentine, Swerdlin said. The team has not spoken publicly since the deaths, but released a statement late on Monday.
“This is tragic news. We are deeply concerned about the death of our ponies,” the statement read. “We have never encountered such a dire situation like this as our horses receive the most professional and dedicated care possible.”
The statement said the team did not know the cause of the deaths but was helping with the investigation.
Swerdlin said the 21 horses together were worth up to US$2 million.
“It would take 10 years to build that string back up,” he said.
The International Polo Club said in a statement that polo horses are thoroughbreds who often get used in play into their mid-teens and are frequently rotated during a match.
Swerdlin also said the Lechuza team was considered among the best of the eight teams entered in the 105th US Open, which started on April 3 and was slated to end with a final match on Sunday.
“They were the team to beat,” he said. “They have some of the greatest polo players in the world.”
The Lechuza Polo horses were being unloaded from their trailers on Sunday afternoon when two collapsed and others acted disoriented, the International Polo Club Palm Beach said.
Seven horses died on the spot and the rest while being treated elsewhere or en route to medical care. All the horses that fell ill died.
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