Twenty-one polo horses die in Florida from toxin-tainted feed

by Yuliya Talmazan | April 20, 2009 at 10:33 am

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Twenty-one polo horses became sick and eventually died minutes before competing at the U.S. Open Polo Championships in Wellington, Florida. It is suspected that horses consumed either toxin-tainted food, supplements, vitamins or a combination of them. The horses collapsed unexpectedly on Sunday; all horses that developed sickness died either on the spot or while being treated. It appears the animals died from heart failure. The toxin involved has yet to be identified. Whether the toxin ended up in the horses' feed accidentally or intentionally remains to be investigated as well. According to local polo officials, the incident is a huge blow for the sport as no en masse deaths of the same scale have ever happened at any championships event.

The sudden death of 21 polo horses in Florida may have been caused by a toxin that has yet to be identified by tests and could have been in the animals' feed, vitamins or supplements, veterinarians said Monday.

The horses from the Venezuelan-owned team Lechuza Caracas sickened just before a tournament Sunday, collapsing and dying on the scene or while being treated at vet clinics or transported, officials said.

Dr. Scott Swerdlin, a veterinarian at Palm Beach Equine Clinic near the polo grounds, treated one of the sick horses. He said it appeared the animals died of heart failure caused by some kind of toxin that could have been in tainted food, vitamins or supplements or some combination of all three that caused a toxic reaction.

It may take days or weeks to get the results of toxicology tests that could identify the toxin, he said.

The Lechuza Caracas horses were being unloaded from their trailers Sunday afternoon when two collapsed and others acted dizzy and disoriented, according to the International Polo Club Palm Beach. Seven horses died at the scene and the rest while being treated elsewhere or en route to medical care.

Veterinarians already at the event quickly tried treating the horses, inserting intravenous lines and trying to cool them down with fans and water. Observers hung blue tarps to shield some of the horses from the crowd's view.

At least 14 polo horses, collectively worth as much as $1.5 million, collapsed and died Sunday. Another seven died later, the vet said.

Fourteen of the horses died Sunday, and one was euthanized. The remainder died at the Lechuza Caracas barn, said Swerdlin, who treated the horses. "Some died right away," he said. "Others lasted about 45 minutes."

He believes the likely culprits are food or shots. There are regulations against doping, but vitamins and IV fluids are permitted. Swerdlin said the idea that the deaths were intentional was "very far-fetched."

John Wash, president of club operations for the International Polo Club Palm Beach, said the polo teams were told by veterinary officials that whatever killed the horses wasn't airborne or contagious. He said that other teams offered to let Lechuza Caracas use their extra horses in the tournament, but the team declined. The tournament will resume Wednesday.

He said everyone is concerned about the effect the incident will have on polo.

"It won't just be the polo scene in Wellington. I think it will affect the polo scene worldwide," Wash said. "In polo's history, there's never been an incident like this that anybody can remember. This was a tragic issue on the magnitude of losing a basketball team in an airplane crash."

The Venezuelan multimillionaire who owned the 21 polo horses that mysteriously collapsed and died in Florida on Sunday is one of the richest men in South America.