Is anyone else following what is going on.
I find this very interesting and am impatiently waiting.
In everything I know of, horses don't just step off the trailer and fall over dead.
Although, there are many unknowns, the one constant is that they have been on location in the same barn and same work routine for the past 60 days.
The Horse: Vets Investigate Wellington Polo Pony Deaths

Wow, holy cow. Poor horses--- I wonder what will be the news next

I heared the news on MSN Today.. I think that
is very sad what happened. Who is at fault? Was
it an accidental poisoning? Or Was it on purpose?

What do you all think?

Ok,
Two different things;
News reports are saying its a bad batch of Viadil-which I can find no good info on.
And the Vet reports, don't show anything conclusive ?
The Horse: No Clues from Preliminary Results of Pony Necropsies
Still wondering.

Now search Viadil Forte; Is a drug I'm completely ignorant to.

Home > Pain Relief > Viadil Forte
Viadil Forte is an anti-spasmodic used in the treatment of various types of acute gastrointestinal pain, including kidney stones


Very interesting, this is in the same drug class as Ketoprofen.
It's actual name is Bromopride
So, it doesn't look good on the teams part.

Wow, 21 horses on the same team had gastrointestinal issues? Are there any other uses for the drug?

Further research;
The team tried to have a pharmacy duplicate the drug Biodyl which is used over seas, although unapproved and considered an "illegal use" drug in the US.

Juan Martin Nero, captain of the Lechuza Caracas polo team, told the La Nacion newspaper of Buenos Aires that all of the horses had received Biodyl injections before the game.

“We don’t have any doubts about the origin of the problem,” Nero said. “There were five horses that weren’t given the vitamin and they are the only ones that are fine.”

Biodyl, a French-made supplement, is banned by the federal Food and Drug Administration and its sale or use in the United States is illegal, an FDA spokeswoman said.

If horses were injected with the supplement, “that would be illegal use of an unapproved drug,” FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey said.

Bioldyl is a French-made supplement that contains Vitamin B-12, selenium, potassium asparate and magnesium asparate. Last year, a shipment imported into the United States was rejected by FDA officials because it was deemed “a new animal drug which is unsafe,” FDA records show.

La Nacion reported that its use is not prohibited in Argentina, where the Venezuelan-owned team’s veterinarian and players are from.

This revelation still raises many questions. For one, Biodyl is routinely used in Europe as a vitamin/mineral supplement. The drug is intended to help horses recover more quickly from muscle fatigue. Unless the dosages were wrong or the product were tainted, it would be unlikely to cause problems. However, selenium administered in large doses can be toxic.

If the cause was the supplement, was it tainted? Or was the drug compounded in the US incorrectly rather than ordered from France? The initial necropsy reports on 8 of the horses revealed “nothing significant.“

So, I guess we’ll need to wait for more detailed toxicology reports and hope to find out a definitive answer.

We all know how the media is about reporting inaccurate info, but I read that instead of getting .5mg of Selenium 5 mg were added to the "cocktail" and that is what caused the issue. Who knows though, poor ponies.

Well I don't know about the "asparate" part but I take B-12, Selenium, Magnesium, and of course we get potassium through foods such as Bananas... hmmm...

Of course overdosing on Selenium I have heard also can be toxic. And when B-12 is overdosed, instead of giving energy, it can actually make you very fatigued! I know from personal experience (then later research... no more vitamin mistakes for me haha).

Keep us updated Ltc, you are our Local HCC News generator.

Exactly! Ltc keeps everyone informed

Hey,
Thanks guys.
A job title I can be proud of !

Now that we know what is was.
I am still very interested in why it was given.
All of the other Trainer/Riders are agreeing, that yes this is a common practice.
But never on the day of a competition, so why these.
Or, Is it a case of, We do the same thing, just not saying.

The Horse: University of Florida Vet Faculty Work to Solve Polo Pony Mystery

The owners of the 21 polo ponies that died at the U.S Open Polo Championships last year in Wellington, Fla., are seeking more than $4 million in damages from Franck's Pharmacy, the Ocala-based company that mixed the fatal concoction given to the horses.

All the horses that died had been injected with a supplement designed to aid the horses in muscle recovery and which was supposed to contain equal parts potassium, magnesium, and selenium.

State veterinarians determined that the horses died from an overdose of selenium, and Franck's Pharmacy followed with a statement last year that too much selenium had, in fact, been added to the medication.

The horses played for the polo team Lechuza Caracas, owned by Victor Vargas. Members of the lawsuit include teammates Juan Martin Nero, Guillermo Caset, and Nicolas Espain, who together owned nine of the horses; Quorum Management Co., which owned the other 12 horses; and Diamond State Insurance Co., which paid Quorum $1.3 million for the loss of those horses.

The Polo Crosse community, by combining our extensive business management skills, proven marketing and management strategies added with an in-depth knowledge of the operation and application of the sports.