Polo Matches Return to Equidome : Veterinarians, Experts Defend Horses’ Treatment After Deaths of 2 Ponies

It was a horrifying scene played twice that night at the weekly polo match at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Griffith Park.

Just two minutes into the match between the Los Angeles Stars and a Buenos Aires team at the indoor Equidome arena, a chestnut mare named Whisper stumbled, breaking a front leg.

Minutes later, it happened again before the hushed crowd of 2,500. This time a bay gelding named Rubio snapped a front leg as he spun around. His rider, a prominent Argentine player, sat on the ground, cradled his head in his hands and cried as the horse was removed from the arena.

As the game resumed--with the crowd stunned and the players subdued--both horses, two of the Stars’ top mounts, were put to death by veterinarians out of view of the spectators.

The tragedy on March 11 cast an even more ominous cloud than usual over the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, a facility that at times has faced an uncertain future because of financial and legal woes. The horses’ deaths raised pointed questions about the operation of the center and its treatment of horses.

But polo officials, veterinarians and equine experts defended the equestrian center. They said in interviews last week that the center has a commendable safety record and is regarded as an outstanding training, boarding and exhibition facility.

Recent complaints about the polo club “have been blown way out of proportion,” said Dr. Madison Richardson, a Los Angeles neurosurgeon who is safety committee chairman for a Western polo circuit and a member of the Los Angeles Polo Club. “The equestrian center is getting a bum rap.”

Some critics had charged that polo ponies at the center were mistreated and that polo at the Equidome might be too fast-paced and brutal, endangering both horse and rider.

Los Angeles City Department of Animal Regulation officials launched an investigation. For three days last week, the polo program was in jeopardy as officials examined the arena’s condition and treatment of the horses.

Long-Term Investigation

The center was quickly cleared of the accusations. But the mystery lingers about what led to the injuries of two horses in one match. A long-range investigation into those injuries will continue.

The experts described the accidents as flukes or freak occurrences. While it is not uncommon for horses in this rigorous sport to be injured, they said, it is uncommon that two horses would be injured in the same way on the same night within minutes of each other.

Allan Scherer, executive director of the United States Polo Assn., called the deaths “a very unfortunate accident . . . just a happenstance.”

He said the association does not keep statistics on horses’ injuries and deaths. But he added, “It is not a very common thing, nor is it uncommon for horses to get hurt. It happens.”

Since 1983, when the center first started holding polo matches, at least six horses have died because of injuries suffered in the games, officials said.

On Saturday night, when the first match since the deaths was held, avid fans who had feared that the sport would be halted instead celebrated its return.

“I feel so happy now because I was so scared it would be shut down,” said Mabel Dippold, 62, who has attended every center match since 1984. “I know there are pros and cons about the sport, but things are really well taken care of here.”

Frank Rich, 42, a construction executive, said he has never seen anything remotely approaching abuse of the horses and he is glad the games have resumed. “I’m relieved it’s going on, and I hope people don’t get the wrong impression about what’s happening here,” said Rich, who has been attending matches for two years. “It’s a great sport, and all I see is concern for the animals.”

Polo accounts for about 15% of the activities at the equestrian center, which sits on 70 acres owned by the city of Los Angeles, officials said. The center houses a polo riding school, stables for boarding polo ponies and facilities for the Los Angeles Stars’ fleet.

Other center activities include horse shows and lessons where members of the public can learn other forms of riding, such as dressage and jumping.

The center owns the 27 polo horses used in the Saturday night polo matches, which often are attended by movie stars and other entertainment figures. During a match, 18 horses are ridden. The players are professionals ranked in the United States Arena Polo League and are based locally and in other cities.

The horses are thoroughbreds obtained from private owners or dealers. Some were bought from Wyoming cattle ranches, center officials said.

Vince Azzaro, the center’s director of polo, and Tom Goodspeed, captain of the Los Angeles Stars, test ride the horses to see if they have polo ability before they are selected. If a particular horse is chosen, it is then inspected by a veterinarian for soundness.

Dr. J. David Wheat, the center’s veterinarian, inspects the polo ponies about three to four times a week, giving them vaccinations and other types of preventive health care. Wheat also cares for Los Angeles Police Department horses.

Wheat said the two ponies who were fatally injured were in top physical condition and had no history of health problems.

‘Exceptional Equine Athletes’

“They were two of our best horses, with no past instances of lameness or anything,” he said. “They were both exceptional equine athletes. The accidents happened in the first few minutes, so it wasn’t because of fatigue that these things happened.”

He said that in addition to inspections during the week, match horses are examined by him before, during and after an exhibition. If a horse has a problem or any soreness, that horse doesn’t play, he said.

“To put a player on a polo pony that has any sort of injury is taking a significant risk,” he said.

Wheat makes the final determination. He said he has argued, sometimes bitterly, with riders who wanted to mount ponies he did not think were healthy enough to play.

Dr. Robert Walton, a Modesto dermatologist and chairman of the polo association’s arena committee, said indoor polo is “a young man’s game that involves more body contact” than outdoor polo. But he denies allegations that horses are constantly subjected to injuries by bumping into arena walls.

“Horses have quick reflexes and turn very rapidly,” he said. “It is more likely that a rider will be thrown into a wall.”

Both of the horses injured on March 11 were away from the main action of the game when the accidents occurred.

Goodspeed, who was riding Whisper, said he was trying to maneuver the horse toward the main action. “I was moving the horse in a slow circle toward the ball, and it just took a bad step,” said Goodspeed, a top-ranked player.

Holding Lame Leg

Whisper buckled, and Goodspeed fell forward to the ground. When he saw the horse in front of him holding up its lame leg, he knew what had happened.

“It’s happened to me before, and it’s a truly awful thing,” he said. “These animals are like our friends. We’re emotionally attached to them and don’t want to see them hurt for anything in the world.”

Polo players insist that their mounts, which cost from $2,000 to $40,000, are far too valuable to be abused.

Wheat said both of the injured ponies broke bones in the lower part of their legs. He said horses sometimes break those bones trying to catch themselves after taking a bad step.

“We’re talking about a 1,200- pound animal here that’s on little legs,” he said.

Some critics wonder whether the injured horses might have been saved by the technology of modern equine medicine. But owners and veterinarians say that while broken bones can be mended, requiring a horse to stand immobile for months is not easily accomplished and injuries usually permanently impair the animal.

Valiant efforts to save the famed racehorse Ruffian after she shattered her foot in a 1975 match race failed when the mare fought violently to scramble to her feet after surgery. And the cost of surgery and rehabilitation, which may exceed the horse’s value, is a consideration, owners said.

Severe Injuries Uncommon

“Severe debilitating injuries among polo ponies are relatively uncommon,” said Dr. Calvin Kobluk, assistant professor of large animal surgery at the University of Minnesota and an authority on injuries in performance horses.

“But let’s be realistic. They’re athletes, and athletes suffer injuries,” said Kobluk, who conducted a recent survey on racing injuries that was financed by the Morris Animal Foundation for the American Assn. of Equine Practitioners.

He said that by far the most dangerous sport for horses is racing, which places tremendous stress on the immature limbs of 2- and 3-year-old horses driven at a pounding gallop for more than a minute.

Polo ponies are highly trained and highly conditioned performers whose muscular bodies are more capable of withstanding physical stress, he said.

Insurance experts place the mortality risk of polo ponies below that of racehorses but equal to hunting and jumping, the second most risky equine sport. Bob Pringle, a vice president of American Bankers, a leading livestock mortality insurer in Florida, said few owners of polo horses insure their mounts because the rates are high. Most choose to be self-insured.

The indoor polo games are played in the 3,500-seat Equidome, which is 150 feet wide by 300 feet long. The playing surface is a mix of dirt and sand loam that is watered, cushioned and smoothed before each game. Azzaro said about two inches of cushion on the field is allowed to help the horses pivot.

The 4 1/2-foot Equidome walls are made of concrete blocks. Azzaro said that despite the game’s intense action, the horses rarely slam into the walls. “A horse is smart enough to know where the wall is, and they won’t go where they don’t want to go,” he said.

Polo games at the Equidome consist of six 5 1/2-minute periods, called “chukkers,” in which three players on each of two teams attempts to hit a rubber ball through a goal with a mallet. A single horse usually plays for one chukker, although an exceptionally good mount may play in a second chukker after resting for at least two periods, officials said.

Horse experts say the Equidome has been used as a model for the design of other arenas in the nation and the world.

Outdoor polo is played on a field, usually grass, 160 yards wide and 300 yards long--three times the length of a football field. Each team consists of four members and a chukker lasts 7 1/2 minutes. A hard ball is used.

The game consists of much bumping of horses and riders, although strict rules prohibit bumps at angles of more than 45 degrees.

Polo enthusiasts say that horses in all sporting events are subject to injury. George Haas Jr., chairman of the polo association’s safety committee, said horsemen “do occasionally have to put a horse down. It happens on the race track, in the show ring, in every horse-related event I know of.”

The experts say indoor polo places horses at no greater risk than outdoor polo or a number of other equestrian sporting events. Critics have likened outdoor polo to football and indoor polo to ice hockey.

Scherer said the risk may even be greater for players and horses on the traditional polo field because the game is played at greater speeds than in the arena, increasing the risk of a serious fall.

Sue Sally Hale of Moorpark, a 40-year player, trainer and pioneering woman in the sport, is a member of the Los Angeles team. She said critics sometimes complain that the horses are thin.

‘Marathon Runners’

“They are marathon runners,” she said. “Have you ever seen a fat marathoner? They eat twice as much as a show horse and are conditioned and trained every day. It breaks our hearts when something happens to one of these horses.”

Spectators say they are attracted to arena polo by the sport’s action and the skill of horses and riders.

Los Angeles radio personality Michael Jackson and his family often attend the Equidome games “because polo is probably more spectacular as a spectator sport indoors than out,” he said. “Spectators sit right up close to and looking down on the horses and riders. I truly believe the horses like it as much as the riders.”

Hollywood celebrity Johnny Grant said arena polo “is right in your lap. It takes two great athletes to make a play in polo, both horse and rider. That’s exciting to me.”

But spectators and horse owners scoff at the idea that the equestrian center caters only to the wealthy. “People at the equestrian center are from all walks of life,” Jackson said. He called the center “80 drug-free acres in Los Angeles where whole families are able to recreate together.”

Dr. Robert Bradley, an equine veterinarian who has been practicing in the San Fernando Valley for 26 years and has owned polo horses, said any mount without a taste for the game could never be trained to perform. “If those horses didn’t like the game,” he said, “you damn sure wouldn’t get them to play it.”