The total number of polo ponies that died on Sunday, Apr. 19 and into Monday, Apr. 20 (see earlier story) has reached 21, and the local community and horsemen worldwide have been clamoring for answers to the tragedy. Now, they might have a lead.
Horses from the Venezuelan team Lechuza Caracas had shipped to the International Polo Club in Wellington, Fla., to play in the U.S. Open Polo Championship. Upon their arrival, multiple horses were obviously ill, showing signs of respiratory distress. Grooms, veterinary staff and bystanders worked feverishly to treat the horses, but most died quickly. By the end of Sunday, 14 horses were dead and by Monday, seven more were added to the count.
Six of the stricken horses’ bodies were transferred to the Florida Department of Agriculture’s Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab in Kissimmee and the 15 others went to the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville—all for necropsies.
On Apr. 22, Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson released a statement that said that preliminary results of the necropsies done had not identified a diagnosis. The necropsies found no remarkable signs that could indicate a specific cause of death.
“The initial review of the horse carcasses did not show any visible signs of trauma or disease that would indicate an obvious cause of death,” Bronson said. “Our specialists will continue conducting more detailed testing until we get to the bottom of this tragedy.”
Later that day, the Palm Beach Post reported that Lechuza Caracas team captain Juan Martin Nero admitted to injecting the afflicted horses with a vitamin supplement in an interview with the Argentinean paper La Nacion.
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Nero claimed to have injected the 21 horses with a French supplement named Biodyl, which is banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Biodyl contains Vitamin B-12, selenium, potassium aspartate and magnesium aspartate.
“We don’t have any doubts about the origin of the problem,” Nero said to La Nacion. “There were five horses that weren’t given the vitamin and they are the only ones that are fine. For us, the suspicions are that there was something bad in the laboratory. They’re common vitamins that aren’t given to improve performance, but rather to help them recover from exhaustion.”
Biodyl, a supplement used commonly in Europe, is not available in the U.S., but a licensed U.S. veterinarian could submit a prescription for a replication of the supplement to a pharmacy.
Pending toxicology results from the necropsies in Kissimmee and Gainesville could confirm the presence of Biodyl and could identify any anomalies in the ingredients.
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