I wrote a post about the Polo pony tragedy right here in our town of Wellington Florida where during the U.S. Polo Open Tournament, Venezuelan Victor Vargas' team's polo ponies from the Lechuza Caracas ranch died suddenly.Victor Vargas lives in Palm Beach and Venezuela and is a banker in Venezuela.
The investigation is still ongoing however the preliminary results are in. A pharmaceutical company in Ocala Florida mixed the ingredients for a medication incorrectly. This is the cause of death of all 21 of the polo horses that happened suddenly right before the tournament. The strength of the medication was wrong.
The company did not discuss whose fault this was. It is either their wrongdoing by mixing the medication wrong by accident or it is someone from the Lechuza Caracas team ordering the wrong amounts. The horses died from hemorrhaging lungs.
It will take another week to complete all the toxology reports but this is what they know so far. The horses that received this treatment are the only ones that got sick and died within 3 hours of receiving the treatment. There are already fingers pointing to who ordered this medication. The attorney for the insurance company that insured 12 of the dead horses is also finding out who is at fault and who would be held liable for the deaths of the horses.
There was a comment made that one of the ingredients was Biodyl. Biodyl is banned from sale in the U.S. On rare occasions you can get a waiver from the government to get the ingredient. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's office, the US FDA and the Florida Department of Health are all investigating the tragedy.
Meanwhile the Wellington Community along with Darell Bowen, Mayor of Wellington and John Wash, President of operations for the International Plo Club Palm Beach held a memorial service on the Polo grounds. Hundreds of people showed up for the memorial service dropping carnations into the lake that is the backdrop of the polo matches. The Wellington Bag Pipers led the way of the march to the lake.
Marc Ganzi of the Audi team offered Vargas as many horses as Lechuza Caracas needed to keep competing in the tournament. Victor Vargas declined and told Ganzi to go win the tournament instead. This is a 'Gentlemen's Game' as it is known from Wellington to Southern Spain to France and Buenas Aires. There are a lot of rumors floating around about the polo ponies, their trainers and owners. None of it is true. They do not give their horses cocaine, they do not abuse their ponies or any other misguided speculative report you may hear.
The final US Open Polo Championship match is this Sunday. The U.S Open Polo Championships is like the Super Bowl or World Series for Polo players and their teams.
Update- What Caused The Deaths Of 21 Polo Ponies In Wellington Florida was first published on South- Florida-Luxury-Living.com.
Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved Katerina Gasset Wellington Florida
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