# 2 horses die of suspected heart attacks at Bramham



## lachlanandmarcus (10 June 2012)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-18385500

very sad

the saddest sight I ever saw was a horse on a pleasure ride who had collapsed and died and was lying on the grass beneath an oak tree with his poor rider standing there holding the reins completely in shock.

I asked if there was anything we could do to help and she just shook her head...:-((((((

RIP beautiful horses.


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## Jazz1 (10 June 2012)

Am saddened to read one was Lead the Way - lovely horse
comisserations to all involved


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## Elf On A Shelf (10 June 2012)

Can we ban eventing now? 3 horses died. That's one more than the National.


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## Luci07 (10 June 2012)

EKW said:



			Can we ban eventing now? 3 horses died. That's one more than the National.
		
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Are you for real? They had heart attacks...which means weakness, problems with their hearts.  They could have had an attack at any time. Awful for those involved.  And not preventable.


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## stevieg (10 June 2012)

EKW said:



			Can we ban eventing now? 3 horses died. That's one more than the National.
		
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Please assure me there was a touch of sarcasm involved there?!!

Dreadfully sad about Lead The Way. Such a waste of a lovely horse. Poor Clea


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## Elf On A Shelf (10 June 2012)

Yeah I'm for real. Everyone slags off racing when a horse dies but when it comes to eventers it's all flowers abd comiserations. Double standards.


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## stevieg (10 June 2012)

Personally I feel its terribly sad when ANY horse dies ANYWHERE. I guess the numbers for racing will be greater because there are simply more horses racing!

These two must have been suffering from underlying conditions. Its not as if they were being asked to do something beyond their capabilities.


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## Echo Bravo (10 June 2012)

Agree bigtime with EKW,everyone slags off the people in the racing industry. But when it comes to the other disciplines, it's a different story.


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## stevieg (10 June 2012)

As I just said I have never slagged off the racing industry for its mortality rates just as I haven't slagged off any other equine sport/business.

It's nonsense to say a sport should be suspended on the strength of two deaths from natural causes.

I take it neither of you compete then?


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## Elf On A Shelf (10 June 2012)

stevieg said:



			It's nonsense to say a sport should be suspended on the strength of two deaths from natural causes.
		
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People have asked for the National to be banned on the strength of 2 deaths. Yes the 2 eventers died due to suspected heart attacks and in eventing you call it 'natural causes'. A horse that dies of a heart attack in racing is 'raced to death'. Again, double standards.


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## Echo Bravo (10 June 2012)

You are so right EKW, double standards


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## silu (10 June 2012)

Glad to see EKW that I'm not the only 1 to feel there are double standards going on. I perhaps unwisely posted something similar yesterday in the thread re the deaths of the horses at Bramham, and got slatted for it.
Nobody is denying that horses die everyday for all sorts of reasons but slightly struggling to see the difference between a horse having a heart attack and dying while being asked for a huge effort eventing and the same thing happening on the racecourse, Best Mate being a high profile case.I'm sure all the connections of the horses who died at Bramham deserve our heartfelt condolences but wonder why sympathy is seldom given to the owners etc of horses lost on the racetrack. I read another post on H&H about ghoulish people rushing to see/take photos of Lead The Way while stricken on the ground yet The GN is condemned by many as a spectacle whereby people/horsey or otherwise only watch it to see horses hurt/killed. Doesn't say much for those who go to watch eventing.


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## dingle12 (10 June 2012)

Who is the 3rd horse ? Such a shame but they went doing what they loved


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## Elf On A Shelf (10 June 2012)

Silu I made that mistake a while ago - in CR and got button pushed many a time and got a warning.


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## vineyridge (10 June 2012)

Horses develop weak spots in their arteries and veins.  These things are not visible in normal vet care, and IIRC not even on EKGs.  They are simply hidden.  Exertion causes them to pop.

I take then, that those who say hidden circulatory defects and the subsequent deaths have to do with something dangerously inherent in the sport don't know about the rather large number of stallions who drop dead while or after covering mares.  

So if we ban eventing and racing, we should also ban breeding.


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## Elf On A Shelf (10 June 2012)

vineyridge said:



			So if we ban eventing and racing, we should also ban breeding.
		
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If this thread goes the same way as they normally do then the end result will be:

Ban all horses full stop. They will somehow die doing alsmost every activity you can imagine - even grazing in their fields - and thus should just be banned so they don't have to die.

There we go! Summed up the next 20+ pages of this thread in one fell swoop! No need to carry it on again!


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## Little Squirrel (10 June 2012)

EKW said:



			If this thread goes the same way as they normally do then the end result will be:

Ban all horses full stop. They will somehow die doing alsmost every activity you can imagine - even grazing in their fields - and thus should just be banned so they don't have to die.

There we go! Summed up the next 20+ pages of this thread in one fell swoop! No need to carry it on again! 

Click to expand...

*GRINS*


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## typekitty (10 June 2012)

Boo, I just made popcorn.


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## vineyridge (10 June 2012)

My last statement was said very much tongue in cheek, but I forgot the smiley.


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## Marciamac (12 June 2012)

Keep going, EKW; we need a bit of humour on here! But for those who aren't aware, EKW is referring to the stream that starts 50 horses died in racing this year, or something like that.


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## lachlanandmarcus (12 June 2012)

The horse I saw dead of a heart attack at a pleasure ride had not been 'over exerted' over cross country fences, in fact not over any fences. 

He wasnt even cantering. And he was not even in his teens. He was happily trotting on a cool day in the peak of condition and then wham, he was gone.

Heart problems happen to horses, some of them go on for ages with no ill effects, but occasionally it gets weak and just goes. 

Crazy ridiculous to want to ban a sport because of that. 

Humans have heart attacks in marathons, we will ban those too, and occasionally children die of heart failure in a normal PE lesson, lets ban that too....

nuts....


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## applecart14 (13 June 2012)

http://carolstevensraycasse.photosh...am-IHT-2011/G0000r70pnATi12w/I0000zmtJL0L4rg0

What a dreadful shame.  RIP horses x

My horse Billy dropped down dead in his field of a suspected heart attack.  Got turned out one November morning with his mate, trotted off down the field, made some weird noises, yard owner turned back to investigate, stroked him as he was trembling, down he went, and he died.  No scrapes marks in the field, no sweat under his rug.  Very strange and quick thank goodness.


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## applecart14 (13 June 2012)

vineyridge said:



			I take then, that those who say hidden circulatory defects and the subsequent deaths have to do with something dangerously inherent in the sport don't know about the rather large number of stallions who drop dead while or after covering mares.
		
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My vet some years later whilst discussing Billy said that heart attacks were prevalent in horses that had been gelded late, and also in horses that had previously been used for stud work.  This was the case in both with my horse.  He said some stallions would jump off the mare and go down with what most people thought was colic, only for them to die suddenly, this was due to a heart condition.  Maybe linked to hormones, not really sure.


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## PinkCob (17 June 2012)

Terribly sad news, poor horses.
My thoughts go out to the owners, riders and close friends. X


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## Diesal (22 June 2012)

Just to inject a little humour.... Years ago a friend was riding my 20 something year old hunter mare.  Her husband rang me to say that his wife had been cantering Daisy over the stubble field when she had had a heart attack and died.  I thought he was talking about his wife and I was horrified - it actually came as a relief when it turned out to be Daisy.  She was doing what she loved best and went very quickly and luckily the rider was not hurt!


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## Dirtymare (22 June 2012)

EKW said:



			If this thread goes the same way as they normally do then the end result will be:

Ban all horses full stop. They will somehow die doing almost every activity you can imagine - even grazing in their fields - and thus should just be banned so they don't have to die.

There we go! Summed up the next 20+ pages of this thread in one fell swoop! No need to carry it on again! 

Click to expand...

You missed out humans as well.
People should stop having babies as they can end up dying at any age!
Life - Death - its all part of what goes on in this world.


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## MagicMelon (25 June 2012)

EKW said:



			Yeah I'm for real. Everyone slags off racing when a horse dies but when it comes to eventers it's all flowers abd comiserations. Double standards.
		
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Absolute rubbish.  In racing there are FAR FAR more horse deaths (especially avoidable injury caused ones) than in eventing!! And yes, I am against the Grand National and fully believe it should be banned.


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## Star_Chaser (25 June 2012)

Very sad for their owners.  You would have thought a heart condition would have been detected during the pre work to get them fit for the event must be devastating.  

I don't like to see the horses die in the National but I wouldn't ban it either.


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## Elf On A Shelf (25 June 2012)

MagicMelon said:



			Absolute rubbish.  In racing there are FAR FAR more horse deaths (especially avoidable injury caused ones) than in eventing!! And yes, I am against the Grand National and fully believe it should be banned.
		
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Yes there is a vast array of injuries that occure in racing but my point is that here 2 horses die of heart attacks and it's all condolances. If 2 horses died in a race from heart attacks then they are deemed to have been raced to death. That's the same as saying those 2 horses at Bramham were Evented to death and thus no one deserves any comiserations. But of course it's never said like that! That's what drives me insane!


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## KatB (28 June 2012)

Deaths in eventing are very rare, which is why it is shocking when it happens. When horses are lining up for the grand national its an almost certainty that a horse will die....that's why there is the outrage....if a horse was likely to die in every ODE held, there would be absolute outrage....and that would still be a lot lower death rate than there is for the national....


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## Orangehorse (28 June 2012)

Just to set the record straight - Best Mate died BEFORE the race started, on the way from the paddock to the start.  Could have happend at any time.

It is very sad when ever a horse dies suddenly whether race, competition or in the stable or field at home.  When you have livestock you also get dead stock, fact of life.


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## Elf On A Shelf (28 June 2012)

Orangehorse said:



			Just to set the record straight - Best Mate died BEFORE the race started, on the way from the paddock to the start.  Could have happend at any time.

It is very sad when ever a horse dies suddenly whether race, competition or in the stable or field at home.  When you have livestock you also get dead stock, fact of life.
		
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No he didn't. He pulled up and keeled over 3 from home.


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## glitterbug (28 June 2012)

EKW I take your point, and agree that racehorses are loved and cared for just like eventers are. However if Badminton had the same fatality rate as the GN then there would plenty of call to ban it on welfare grounds just like the National.
For the record I don't want the race banned either.


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## alliersv1 (29 June 2012)

EKW said:



			No he didn't. He pulled up and keeled over 3 from home.
		
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Absolutely correct. I will never forget seeing it


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