Three, all geldings. An elderly gelding on a walking trail ride and two young healthy geldings out in pasture with no signs of struggle. No necropsy done but vet explained that geldings seem prone to aortic aneurisms at the point where the aorta branches in the heart.
I know someone who had a horse die suddenly. He was healthy, too. Said they saw him out in the pasture eating hay, no problems, and later looked out the window again and he was lying on the ground like heād collapsed where he stood, no sign of struggling. 
Known of 2 in recent years. One was a paint horse about 11 years old. Green broke barely and nobody ever messed with him once I left that barn. He dropped dead in his pasture. The vet believed it was a cardiac problem but no necropsy.
Other one was a Arab and I think qtr horse cross. Was a rescue but owner had him for about 3 Yeats and he was doing great. Was green but very good. Found dead in the pasture and he was estimated 6 years old. Owner didnāt have money for necropsy so donāt know what happened there.
Iām so glad I found this forum. I was really having trouble understanding why this could happen, and now I know I am not alone and it happens more often than we would think. So sad. Wow, and geldings more than mares or stallions, so interesting. Such a loss when we lose a horse. They are so very special.
Please hang around and join us, Teresa. Iām so sorry for you loss. Itās never easy, but when itās unexpected, it can be even harder to handle.
Yes, twice (not mine but close friends and was there for both - not when they died but right after to help + for necropsy.)
First was an aneurysm.
Second was a ruptured diaphragm.
Sorry for your loss (((HUGS))))
Last year. A friendās 10 year old quarter/draft cross. Was always healthy, then the morning crew found the horse dead in its stall. There was a necropsy, showed a defect in the heart, so it was just a matter of time. Not the sort of thing to show up in a PPE.
A friend just lost one yesterday. Just dropped dead in his stall while she was standing there.
Iām so glad the OP started this thread.
Weāve been really lucky in that weād never experienced a horse dropping dead until this week. Because of the location and urgency to move her body, I wasnāt able to have a necropsy performed and worried that sheād suffered. Lots of anecdotal evidence here that, no, my eyes werenāt deceiving me when I could find no signs of a struggle and the end probably was quick.
This was a healthy, energetic 24 year old TB alpha mare. Bright-eyed and begging cookies around a mouthful of hay that morning, in full rigor mortis without a mark on her that evening.
Teresa, so very sorry for your unexpected loss. It can be very very difficult to accept and deal with deaths that happen like that. Even a nasty and fast colic isnāt as unexpected. :no:
Itās not really unusual, sadly. Over time Iāve known of a handful or so that have passed the same way. Have seen 2 that I can recall, almost instantaneous deaths without any warning. Standing and normal one minute, down and gone the next. 1 mare, the rest were geldings. (that I witnessed: 1 pony mare, 1 OTTB gelding, neither agedā¦all the rest I know that happened that way were geldings)
In all cases it was particularly devastating for the owners; we all know how fragile these animals can be and we all know how accident prone they also tend to be but are never prepared for anything like a sudden, unexplained death.
Please consider hanging around here. Itās a really big BB that does have a lot of āstrong personalitiesā and has itās share of disagreementsā¦but overall itās a fantastic place for information, idea sharing and support when weāve lost our 4 legged friends.
Made oā glass, that they are. Amazing how something so big and strong can at the same time be so blasted fragile. Itās just the way things are . . .
People drop dead for no reason too. There are no guarantees for any of us, so make sure you enjoy every day! Sometimes it all comes down to a sunny spot in the kitchen and a good cup of coffee. 
Ive been at a few steeplechases where horses dropped dead from an aneurysm or ruptured aorta. At my former boarding barn years ago a young homebred horse dropped dead while schooling over some jumps at a show; and a friend of mine was getting ready to lead her horse out of the barn for a ride, horse hesitated and when she pulled on the reins, horse started thrashing around - I wasnāt there but apparently it was pretty awful. She evidently had some type of stroke/aneurysm as well.
I lost a 5 yo suddenly with no explanation. It was absolutely tragic and there was nothing that could be done. It was almost 10 years ago and I think about that day and that horse all the time.
None of mine, thank goddness, but Iāve heard of three cases I knew personally (not a friend of a friend).
When I was a kid, an adult student of my riding instructor bought a young (6 or 7) apparently healthy Palomino gelding, a beautiful, well trained animal. Six months later, it was found dead in the stall. Autopsy showed a large abdominal tumor that had ruptured, essentially causing the horse to bleed out internally.
My thesis advisor in grad school had a middle aged gelding (around 12 or so) that was healthy and then started acting lethargic for about a month, though still not with any obvious sign of illness, just some vague signs only someone family with the animal would know. The local vet was baffled, so he trailered it to the state vet school for further evaluation. The horse died while at the clinic, found dead in the stall. On autopsy, they found an extensive fungal infection in the lungs, something the vet school prof had seen only once or twice in his career.
Third case was a pony belonging to my parentās neighbor. She turned her horses out in the morning, including the pony which belonged to her young daughter, and proceeded to clean stalls. Roughly 15 minutes later, she heard a commotion outside and went to investigate, finding the pony lying dead about 10 feet from the gate. Ground around the gate was torn up. As far as she can tell, pony tried to get at some grass on other side of the gate, somehow got its head caught, panicked, reared up and either broke its neck or hit its head on the ground, killing it instantly:( If it had happened when she wasnāt there, she wouldnāt have know there was any struggle. And this was your typical ābomb-proofā kidās 4H pony, not prone to panic or acting stupid!
These things happen to horses, and as a few have mentioned, people too, and itās sad and mostly nobodyās fault. In my non-horse life in healthcare, Iāve seen young, previously healthy 20-somethings brought to the hospital in cardiac arrest of unknown causeā¦no drug overdose, no known heart defect, just GONE:no:
So sorry for the OPās loss
BES
Yes. Mine also from an aneurysm. It was horrible. Iāll never forget it.
Yes. 2 1/2 year old Welsh Cob gelding, national champion, out at training being trained to drive. Collapsed suddenly while put to and dropped in the shafts, rose once after his harness was off, whinnied and then dropped over dead. Necropsy showed he had a weak spot in his pulmonary artery that just ruptured and burst, and bled out into his chest cavity. I asked the vet if this was in any way preventable or detectable and he said no, itās just one of those things that happens. Only one way to know about it ahead of time is if the horse had been on the surgical table for something else and it was discovered thenā¦then they might be able to do something to repair it before it could fail.
So sorry Teresa (and all others who have lost horses like this). I lost my rescued OTTB gelding suddenly about 10 years ago now. We had been out galloping on the trails just the day before, healthy as can be. Next day my brother called from home and said he heard a bang in the barn and looked out to see my gelding take off out of the stall and down the hill then collapse at the bottom. We declined to do a necropsy, although I kind of wish we had because the cause has always gnawed at me a little. It was absolutely horrible to go through - I didnāt ride outside of occasional hacks on my retired horse for 7 or 8 years after that.
I am sorry Teresa. Happened to me about 12 years ago. Perfectly healthy five year old TB gelding. I fed him about 8 am, turned him out into his pasture with his buddy. When I walked to the barn about noon, he was dead. No sign of struggle. He was insured so vet did necropsy but found nothing. It was shocking and emotionally painful, and I will never forget that sight. He was still pretty, and I recall actually telling him to āGet up Laddie, Get upā.
Yesterday a friendās teenage son was making a roping run and his mare had a heart attack. He was thrown into a wall but is ok. The family takes good care of their livestock so this was very unexpected. Glad the boy is ok, sad for the family.
Unfortunately, I have reason to post in this thread now.
My sweet bay boy, Bryce Be Quick (24), passed away suddenly in his pasture on June 23rd. He was in excellent health with no issues whatsoever. He had been ridden and groomed the day before, and was happily grazing in the moonlight at 11pm that night. The barn owner found him at 7:30 Sunday morning. There were no signs of struggle and no visible signs of ā¦ anything. He was just gone.
Iām assuming it was a heart attack or aneurysm, but I did not have a necropsy done.
