It was about a week after the Belmont. I believe they found a heart abnormality on necropsy.
Really sad.
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It was a long time ago, but I am sure I was out of town the weekend of the Belmont, (at an event in Wichita,) and on the way home, I heard. But I could be remembering incorrectly.
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Eight days according to Wikipedia:
Swale (April 21, 1981 – June 17, 1984) was an American thoroughbred racehorse. He is best known for winning the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes in 1984. He died eight days after his win in the latter race.
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Is there any science that suggests that Legend or Adequan is even of use on a short term, post-competition basis?
And adequate selenium is important, but again not sure why jumping a round would make a horse suddenly deficient.
Traumeel is supposed to contain arnica, or actually sort of not contain it as it is homeopathic. Did they give a dose of arnica in addition? I would not be okay with that going into my horse. I am so distressed they did it without the permission or even knowledge of the rider, who is in the end the Person Responsible under all the rules.
This is a creepy protocol, whether or not it caused his death, but any time a horse goes down immediately after an IV injection the smart money is on the injection.
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If I recall, this wasn’t post competition in the sense that they were getting ready to travel home. It was mid-competition, and they were planning to compete again in the next round.
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No. There is one study that shows it is neither harmful nor effective given more frequently.
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If we’re going with anecdotal evidence, Adequan has done absolutely nothing for any animal I have ever given it to, equine or canine.
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No, I don’ t think so. The horse did the jump off and was in 3rd place I thought.
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You’re correct.
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It wasn’t the last day, so the horse was going to jump the day after, in the third leg of the World Cup.
Like endlessclimb, I have to say my experience with Adequan and Legend is pretty ambivalent. Maybe it helps some but we really really wanted to believe it did and I don’t think in my experience I’ve seen a strong objective difference. To the extent it does help, it’s most likely helping in the long term and not something that makes a positive difference injected immediately before or after an effort.
There’s more evidence for ice and for judicious resting (not stall rest but light activity so everything can heal).
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HIckstead’s death, after just completing a show jumping round, and while still in the ring, was attributed to an aortic rupture.
Such an incredible horse and such a tragedy.
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I’ve used it as a prophylactic not as an after workout treatment. I’ve had great success with stiff, arthritic horses using both Adequan and Legend. But injection show jumpers with it after a round just seems odd to me.
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It’s not the “after-workout” that’s relevant. The FEI rule is no injections within 12 hours of competing. So if they need to inject something (which is obviously an open question, but not relevant to this point), they are counting backwards from the next time the horse has to compete. If it is going to compete the next day, perhaps at an as-yet undetermined time because of FEI qualification or draw order rules, they are going to do it as soon as possible after leaving the ring.
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I will say the opposite of this, Adequan made a huge difference in my dog and a noticeable difference in my horse.
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An update…
USEF COO/General Counsel talks to Dr. John Madigan of UC Davis.
Interesting read.
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Agreed, very interesting…
Hopefully these things happen -
(copied from the above article)
“She wants USEF to work with the American Association of Equine Practitioners or a similar organization to make sure the vets treating horses at competitions are licensed and “trained to protect our horses in the sport.”
“The draft of the new horse participation consent agreement says “no substances will be administered to the horse unless the USEF-appointed veterinarian first obtains written consent from the athlete,” unless it’s an emergency situation.”
It’s also my hope that people will start to question the routine injectables given to horses.
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I trained with someone who was on a team and who had just spent several years training with someone who was on a team for another country. She said the normal protocol at that level was adequan and legend through show season, typically on a weekly basis alternating whether at the start of the week or midweek. Different people have different protocols. These protocols are typically ALL off label use.
I believe the cocktail given to the horse was an off label use as well. Apparently, off label use of allowed medications is permitted.
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