OT: Mystery at Fla. polo match: 21 horses die - Page 5

Performance...
Anything to go that extra mile.

Interesting link here.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/22/AR2009042202005.html?hpid=topnews

This has nothing to do with B12, unless they pumped a ton to replace every body organ. Even then there would be no sign of internal bleeding. Major organ bleeding is present during necropsies they say. This was a painful death for all these horses.

Bastards.

I'm glad Pennsylvania State is involved now.

I guess when people start dropping dead due to encephalits or instant heart attacks, we know how it started.  Ohhh gezzzzzz.

Potassium is really nasty if given in improper dilutions, or, too much can stop the heart  or cause severe irriatation of veins all sorts of nasty things can happen.  But really it is hard to say what the error is or was.  It can be difficult for a pharmacy that may not have much experience compounding things for animals.  I can spot many human drug errors instantly .on a different species the metabolism is different so things that are glaring errors are not as evident.  There are several forms of potassium availible so a wrong selection there can really be problematic.  Could be a math error could be a drug error but bottom line is if these horses were given this to enhance performance to me that really seems more tragic.

Sunsilver, this is not about vitamin B12.  The performance enhancing concoction given to the horses is legal in Europe but ILLEGAL in the US.  To get around the law, they tried to get the formulation mixed "in house" in Florida before doping the horses. 

Professional sports' doping regulations vary from country to country.  Substances that can be permitted, or at least winked at, overseas are banned here in the US. 

The bottom line is that they tried to skirt US law and gain an upper hand in a polo match.  Fine price to pay, 21 horses dead. 

... anyone find out who the riders are for the 21 horses ? 21 horses, 21 riders. Names anyone ?

Interesting article   bottom paragraph address' the horse story ie prioirity of our concerns:

We all knew it was just a matter of time until the true motives surfaced. Looks like they are making themselves known.  Dona

 

President Obama showed his hand this week when The New York Times wrote that he is considering converting the stock the government owns in our country's banks from preferred stock, which it now holds, to common stock.

This seemingly insignificant change is momentous. It means that the federal government will control all of the major banks and financial institutions in the nation. It means socialism. The Times dutifully dressed up the Obama plan as a way to avoid asking Congress for more money for failing banks. But the implications of the proposal are obvious to anyone who cares to look.  

When the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) intervention was first outlined by the Bush administration, it did not call for any transfer of stock, of any sort, to the government. The Democrats demanded, as a price for their support, that the taxpayers "get something back" for the money they were lending to the banks. House Republicans, wise to what was going on, rejected the administration's proposal and sought, instead, to provide insurance to banks, rather than outright cash. Their plan would, of course, not involve any transfer of stock. But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) undercut his own party's conservatives and went along with the Democratic plan, ensuring its passage.

But to avoid the issue of a potential for government control of the banks, everybody agreed that the stock the feds would take back in return for their money would be preferred stock, not common stock. "Preferred" means that these stockholders get the first crack at dividends, but only common stockholders can actually vote on company management or policy. Now, by changing this fundamental element of the TARP plan, Obama will give Washington a voting majority among the common stockholders of these banks and other financial institu

... anyone find out who the riders are for the 21 horses ? 21 horses, 21 riders. Names anyone ?

There aren't 21 riders for 21 horses.  Polo isn't played that way. 

You use all those horses for one match - the riders switch horses so no horse does too much.  By rule, no horse is allowed to play more than 2 chukkers (a match consists of 4 chukkers - I think 7.5 minutes each) and if one horse does play 2, they can't be 2 consecutive chukkars.  Players usually change horses after each chukkar - which means 4 riders riding 4 horses - a minimum of 16 horses for one polo match.  So it wan't unusual at all for a team to have 21 horses ready to play an international game, since they knew their 4 riders would be using a MINIMUM of 16 of them, and the other 5 were there as back up.

Although the club involved may have multiple players who play for them, in a match only 4 play.  If "sharing" is allowed, then 2 play each position, switching out.

Chukker or chukkar is pronounced "Chukka."

The culprit is selenium

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090428/ap_on_re_us/us_dead_polo_horses

No foul play after all, just an incompetent pharmacy.   Wow.

not sure yet if it was the vet or the pharm.
from the above linked article:

A Florida pharmacy that mixed a brew of vitamins and minerals for the team on order from its Florida veterinarian said Tuesday that the strength of selenium was incorrect. Jennifer Beckett, chief operating officer for Franck's Pharmacy in Ocala, Fla., would not say whether the incorrect amount was specified in the veterinarian order or was a pharmacy error.