Well the story came out on YahooIt not only was a bad batch of drugs
It was a bad batch of drugs that are not legal in the US
I'm not surprised
Whatever the reality there is a huge sense of loss.
Here is the email that I received from a friend in the Palm Beach Polo world.
Our Black Sunday
By Sam Morton
“Nothing really prepares you for what happened Sunday; the horror of overt twenty horses dropping at our biggest polo tournament of the year. Young athletes cut down in their prime.. It is our Black Sunday or 9/11 in polo.
There are lots of rumors running around which doesn’t really change the end result. Lots of horsemen who happened to be there scrambled over to help but there was nothing they could do. One witness told me it looked like there were twenty people around each horse trying to do something,anything.
“People who work behind the scenes in polo learn to work fast. We pride ourselves on it. Horses are tacked up, stripped, and washed in minutes. At the U.S. Open Sunday, and at any Florida function all winter, there are people from all over the world in the polo community. For over an hour,South Africans, Argentines, French, Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, Brazilians, Costa Ricans, Cubans, and several other countries, worked shoulder to shoulder with the best horse vets in the world to save lives. They were scrambling as one, at a moment’s notice. I can tell you no one could have worked faster in any sport, equestrian or human, and for that I am extremely proud to be part of it. The polo team, Isla Carol mounted a substitute team in little over an hour. I’m not sure people realize what went into that.
“Grooms, sponsors, vets, players, photographers and spectators are all bonded by a passion for horses. It’s who we are as a community. The last time we were brought together was the herpes virus scare a few years back. I sat in a room and looked at pros, blacksmiths, grooms, vets, owners and fans of polo that pulled together for the love of our horses and I think it was probably the first time I truly thought about being part of a community. I was proud then and I am proud now.
“In Plains Indian society, less than two hundred years ago, it was believed that when a man dies, his horse would accompany him in the next life.That’s how much horses were deeply involved in their life, and in a way they are that much a part of our lives in polo. I can tell you every polo player, groom, owner, trainer and fan of the game fells the pain right now. We are deeply hurt and saddened as a people over the loss of our horses.
To Lechuza we send our condolences.“God bless the souls of our horses that run with the angels now."Gotta go."“My horse fights with me and fasts with me because if he is to carry me into battle, he must know my heart and I must know his or we shall never become brothers. I have been told that the white man who is almost a god, and yet a great fool, does not believe the horse has a soul. This cannot be true. I have many times seen my horse’s soul in his eyes.-Plenty Coups Chief of the Crow”
You may or not be a fan of Polo as a sport but the spirit and the heart displayed by polo horses is beyond description.
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2 comments:
Heartbreaking -- I can't imagine how awful it must have been to witness this...
I'm sad and angry, sad for their loss and angry that they were giving the horses illegal drugs in the first place. I grew up with horses, and they are very special creatures, much smarter and more feeling than most people give them credit for.
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