That doesn’t sound good. (Edited.)
I seem to remember that both Laoban and Arrogates deaths were the result of accidents. Accidents do happen, it’s only when big time horses are affected that it becomes news.
I do recall reading that Laoban’s death was due to human error, and that the possibility of legal action was the reason no details were made public at the time.
I can’t recall the source, however.
It reminds me of this story where polo ponies died of selenium poisoning. " Anonymous sources told La Nación , the national Argentinian newspaper, that the veterinarian’s prescription requested 0.5 mg of sodium selenite per milliliter of the cocktail, but the chemist added 5 mg, or ten times that amount. According to the National Research Council, a single minimal lethal oral dose of sodium selenite in horses is 3.3 mg/kg, but a fatal injected preparation, such as what these horses received, contains a much smaller concentration."
Decimal places matter.
1 Like
I remember when so many polo ponies died. It was horrible.
But we shouldn’t put a cap stallions’ books. 
3 Likes
My first thought was, how about a few days rest? I know, I know, he’s booked to mares that are ready to be bred. It’s too bad though, that some time off wasn’t an option for him.
Bolt d’Oro got a vacation, of course he had to savage a groom to get it, but it shows that it can be done.
2 Likes
I still wonder what was in that “cocktail” that killed him so quickly. Too much/too little of calcium or potassium, causing arrhythmia? Magnesium?
From the Courier-Journal article (hoping the formatting comes across)
Investigating Laoban’s death for NAS, attorney Harvey Feintuch found Wharton had admittedly administered the “Black Shot” cocktail without reading the labels on its four ingredients and concluded Wharton had used them in at least 10 different ways contrary to label instructions. According to a 29-page document Feintuch authored last August, vitamins intended to be administered intramuscularly were instead injected intravenously; expired Vitamin B12 was administered at five times the recommended dosage; and expired Vitamin B Complex was administered despite a warning about the risk of anaphylactic shock.
One of the ingredients, Iron Hydrogenated Dextran, carried an expiration date of July 2012, and was indicated only for iron deficiency anemia in baby pigs.
IMO the insurance company is completely within its rights to deny the claim. There’s “accidental” death and there’s “totally preventable death caused entirely by human ignorance”.
7 Likes
Yeah, it’s just a lose lose situation. It was towards the end of the season and it’s not like mares can wait.
The economics dictate questionable decisions. It’s frustrating.
1 Like
Arrogates death wasn’t entirely an accident. He had some pretty degenerative neck issues, however a certain therapy caused it to become extremely unstable.
Can you expand on this?
1 Like
What therapy are you talking about?
I don’t know which exact one. Something along the way of injections, chiro, shockwave.
So what you’re saying is that you don’t really have any idea why Arrogate died but you just want to throw some random ideas out and hope we’ll believe them?
4 Likes
No. The horse had a spinal cord lesion. Im saying I don’t want to say which therapy because I don’t know which specific so I’m not going to put out false information. Something made it unstable enough he couldn’t stand for 4 days.
