The Mysterious Death of 21 Polo Ponies!

[3113]

Not shitting you! This is friggin' weird...

WELLINGTON, Fla. (AP) — The idyllic, wealthy setting of a polo match with one of the world's top teams quickly turned horrific: Magnificent polo ponies, each valued at up to $200,000, stumbled from their trailers and crumpled one by one onto the green grass. Now veterinarians are trying to pin down the cause of what they believe was a swift toxic reaction killing 21 horses on Sunday shortly before they were scheduled to play in the U.S. Open tournament.

"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, which hosts the tournament each year about 15 miles west of the millionaire enclave of Palm Beach. State veterinarians were still performing necropsies but suspect the horses — all from the Venezuelan-owned team Lechuza Polo — died from heart failure, possibly caused by tainted feed, vitamins, supplements or a combination of all three.

While polo club officials and several independent veterinarians insisted the deaths appeared to be accidental, it remained a mystery that puzzled and saddened the global polo community. Polo enthusiasts descend each year on Wellington, a town of horse clubs, training facilities, stables, polo grounds and wide-open fenced fields where the animals roam and graze along straight-line, neatly groomed streets. The club has hosted the U.S. Open for seven years. While women in sundresses and men in linen suits sipped champagne and nibbled on hors d'oeuvres on Sunday waiting for the match to begin, a frenzy of workers and trucks began hovering around the horse trailers nearby. Soon blue tarps were hung and trailers were shuffled into place to obscure the crowd's view.

The match was canceled, replaced by an exhibition game, to keep the crowd busy. Rumors spread and the death toll climbed. Some horses died on scene. Others were shuttled to clinics for treatment, but there was nothing that could be done. Lechuza Polo, a favorite to win the title at what's described as the World Series of this sport, fielded about 40 thoroughbreds in all, maybe more....Polo club manager Jimmy Newman said it was like losing half the New York Yankees.

...games would resume on Wednesday, with the finals taking place Sunday. The Lechuza team has withdrawn. It may take days or weeks to get the results of toxicology tests. The team is owned by affluent Venezuelan businessman Victor Vargas, who also plays, but most of the horses and players are Argentine. The team travels most of the year.

Full story here.

Poor horses.

 

[xssve]

I read where some fuck neglected a bunch of racehorses a couple of weeks back, they were all half starved.

Bad year to be a horse.

 

[slyc_willie]

In the era of doping athletes for the sake of performance and entertainment, why should it end there? Why not juice up the horses, too?

Not that there's any direct evidence for that . . . call it a hunch.

 

[JagFarlane]

In the era of doping athletes for the sake of performance and entertainment, why should it end there? Why not juice up the horses, too?

Not that there's any direct evidence for that . . . call it a hunch.

Actually there are racehorses that are doped up. Hell last years Kentucky Derby Winner...Big Brown was doped up on Winstrol, which is a brand of steroid.

Big Brown legal doping

 

[cloudy]

Actually there are racehorses that are doped up. Hell last years Kentucky Derby Winner...Big Brown was doped up on Winstrol, which is a brand of steroid.

Big Brown legal doping

There is a HUGE difference between polo ponies and race horses. I think you're comparing apples and oranges here.

Part of the problem with race horses that, IMO, leads to doping is their age. Horses are NOT physically mature at three years old.

I doubt you'd find a polo pony that is that young, since the stress on bones caused by such abrupt stops and turns would be ruinous. Polo ponies don't have as limited a "shelf life" as a race horse does.

 

[JagFarlane]

There is a HUGE difference between polo ponies and race horses. I think you're comparing apples and oranges here.

Part of the problem with race horses that, IMO, leads to doping is their age. Horses are NOT physically mature at three years old.

I doubt you'd find a polo pony that is that young, since the stress on bones caused by such abrupt stops and turns would be ruinous. Polo ponies don't have as limited a "shelf life" as a race horse does.

There is a difference between polo ponies and race horses. As you pointed out the age factor is one huge one. Polo ponies tend not to be used till they are around 10 years old, partly due to the large amount of training involved.

However, age doesn't matter so much as a persons competitive nature and need to win. There are people who will do anything to win at a competition. One example is the woman from Jersey [UK] whom fed her sons opponents polo ponies with sedative laced mints.

Editorial published on MSN India in regards to polo pony practices.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Probably caused by Global Warming.

 

[freshface]

Probably caused by Global Warming.

I thought it must be Obama's fault.

 

[cloudy]

There is a difference between polo ponies and race horses. As you pointed out the age factor is one huge one. Polo ponies tend not to be used till they are around 10 years old, partly due to the large amount of training involved.

However, age doesn't matter so much as a persons competitive nature and need to win. There are people who will do anything to win at a competition. One example is the woman from Jersey [UK] whom fed her sons opponents polo ponies with sedative laced mints.

Editorial published on MSN India in regards to polo pony practices.

That's an opinion piece, not a fact-based piece.

What she complains about is present in just about any sport that involves horses. Just as dangerous is working cattle from horseback - the abrupt stops and sharp turns are exactly like those in polo. One of her sentences just blew me away: "The horses have no choice."

Please.

I had a horse that loved to work cattle more than anything in the world. Show him a cow, and he was in his element. Loved it.

To be quite honest, she sounded just as crazy stupid as PETA does.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I find cow ponies both fascinating and baffling. Here we have an ungulate, a strict herbivore, exhibiting the same behaviors as a wolf-descended sheepdog. Where does that come from?

 

[cloudy]

I find cow ponies both fascinating and baffling. Here we have an ungulate, a strict herbivore, exhibiting the same behaviors as a wolf-descended sheepdog. Where does that come from?

Horses are MUCH smarter than people give them credit for, for one thing. The horses that love to work cattle are generally the smartest ones. I think it's interesting for them. It's play; it's like working a puzzle to them.

We play basketball, football, work crosswords. Horses work cattle, run barrels, play polo.

 

[freshface]

Horses are MUCH smarter than people give them credit for, for one thing. The horses that love to work cattle are generally the smartest ones. I think it's interesting for them. It's play; it's like working a puzzle to them.

I think the same thing is true for the sheepdogs. A good one would never actually take teeth to sheep or cattle, but herding is what they live for.

 

[cloudy]

I think the same thing is true for the sheepdogs. A good one would never actually take teeth to sheep or cattle, but herding is what they live for.

Yes. Most do it quite naturally, and don't have to be trained for it. That was true of my Australian Shepherds. They would work the horses without being trained from about 6 months old. They learn from each other. It's fascinating to watch.

 

[Safe_Bet]

I think the same thing is true for the sheepdogs. A good one would never actually take teeth to sheep or cattle, but herding is what they live for.

THAT DISGUSTING! All those poor dogs being made to have sex with sheep just so you can use their mutant offspring to herd their own relatives.

Does PETA know about this????


Don't even get me started on Great Danes!

 

[voluptuary_manque]

. . . and what is this about retrieving people from Labrador?

 

[cloudy]

Latest news is that they've begun a criminal investigation. Apparently, they've gotten some information that the horses were poisoned by a rival.

Sort of what I suspected all along.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Latest news is that they've begun a criminal investigation. Apparently, they've gotten some information that the horses were poisoned by a rival.

Sort of what I suspected all along.

Oh-ho! I had no idea that polo had degenerated to such a pathetic level. Someone is going to be black-balled for life.

 

[Carnevil9]

The problem was that they tried to play water polo with the ponies.... and they drowned!!!

 

[3113]

Latest news is that they've begun a criminal investigation. Apparently, they've gotten some information that the horses were poisoned by a rival.

Sort of what I suspected all along.

No shit? I honestly did think it was an accident as it's kinda hard to hide a trail that involves the sudden death of 21 horses....

Either the perp was vindictive or really stupid. Or both.

 

[cloudy]

No shit? I honestly did think it was an accident as it's kinda hard to hide a trail that involves the sudden death of 21 horses....

Either the perp was vindictive or really stupid. Or both.

Polo is a VERY high stakes business, and that kind of thing has happened before, though not on this scale. That's why it occurred to me. The amount of money involved is astronomical, and this was a championship.

 

[shereads]

This is right out of The Alibi Man (Tami Hoag)

That novel was the first thing I thought of when I read this news. It's all about amoral polo bums, the Russian mafia, and the rotten underbelly of Palm Beach horse society.

I smell the Russian mob! And a sequel to Dark Horse and Alibi Man.

 

[shereads]

Polo is a VERY high stakes business, and that kind of thing has happened before, though not on this scale. That's why it occurred to me. The amount of money involved is astronomical, and this was a championship.

I remember a high-profile Palm Beach County horse poisoning, but didn't the perp in that case turn out to be the owner? To raise cash from her insurance on the horses?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Yanno, once Cloudy mentioned the possibility of poisoning, my first thought was gamblers. But if a team can't compete, can you actually bet against them? Or were these guys the favorites and someone was betting on someone else to win?

 

[Xelebes]

Yes. Most do it quite naturally, and don't have to be trained for it. That was true of my Australian Shepherds. They would work the horses without being trained from about 6 months old. They learn from each other. It's fascinating to watch.

My old border collie, when she was a young pup, would round up everything and I mean everything. She's even try rounding us kids up.

 

[longlastingwm]

Poison or something

This brought to mind the 'plague' that hit Kentucky a couple of years ago when some weird stuff, (mold or something, they still don't know) got into the bluegrass and almost every thoroughbred foal was stillborn.

Horses are both robust AND delicate creatures. My suspicions are in this order:

1 - Poison, intentional.
2 - Toxins inadvertently introduced either through bad feed (remember China), or a bad combination of different products.
3 - Inconsistent or problematic pressurization in the plane they came across in. It could have been sort of reverse bends.