Horse’s Death Starts Quest for Answers

A dead champion show horse and a rare parasite add up to murder in the eyes of Orange County philanthropist and breeder Joan Irvine Smith, who has posted a $10,000 reward for information on the death seven weeks ago of her prized stallion, South Pacific.

The possible motive? Jealousy over the success of Smith’s breeding program, centered on the $1.5-million horse that has sired at least 14 top performers in show-jump competitions.

“I think it was somebody who may have thought that if they killed the horse, that might stop the program or take away my incentive,” Smith said. “I think somebody wanted me out of business and didn’t realize the depth of the horse program that we have.”

Smith suspects someone slipped into her San Diego County stud ranch, the Oaks Indian Hill Ranch in Valley Springs, and injected the parasite Halicephalobus deletrix into the horse.

But parasite experts were skeptical that someone would go to the trouble to acquire the extremely rare parasite.

“If I wanted to get rid of a horse, it would be . . . a lot easier to pick up toxins that would go undetected than it would be to go out and find Halicephalobus,” UCLA’s Dr. Lawrence Ash said. “I’ve been a parasitologist for 40 some odd years. If you asked me to go out and get some, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

Still, if Smith is right, the mystery has all the hallmarks of a “Columbo” television episode: A wealthy descendant of one of California’s most influential ranch families, the world of international horse enthusiasts and a malicious act born of base human emotions.

There’s also serious money involved. One of South Pacific’s offspring recently sold for $43,000. Smith has, she said, about 65 of South Pacific’s offspring among her nearly 400 horses on three ranches.

“It’s a tremendous loss to the horse industry,” Smith said. “There’s frozen semen that I have in the bank, but I’ll use it on my own mares. I won’t sell any of it.”

South Pacific’s death also involves the agony of a dedicated horse lover forced to watch one of her prized animals euthanized.

“It was terrible,” said Smith, who bought South Pacific in 1990. “I still cry. There are many horses in that barn, but it’s empty without him. With an animal, if it’s been very special to you and you’re there to watch them die, it’s just horrible.”

Smith has taken her campaign for justice to the Internet, establishing a Web site that traces the history of South Pacific and the circumstances leading up to his death: https:/www.theoaks farms.com.

And she has hired a private investigator, even though she hasn’t reported her suspicions to police.

“That isn’t where you’re going to get any action,” Smith said. “That’s why we’re advertising the $10,000 reward.”

South Pacific was euthanized April 15 after falling ill a month earlier. Initially, Smith said, veterinarians thought the problem might be related to vaccines for a bacterial infection called strangles.

A biopsy, though, turned up Halicephalobus deletrix. A necropsy found the worms in the brain, optic nerves and kidneys, which had been all but destroyed. The necropsy also turned up no signs of cuts or abrasions that might have been the parasite’s entry point and no indication that it had been swallowed.

Matt J. Matthews, a private veterinarian under contract with the Oaks, said he is baffled by the case, which has not involved any of the ranches’ other horses. He said that while he found no evidence that the horse had been tampered with, he also found no evidence that the horse contracted the parasite naturally.

“We have absolutely no idea of the [parasite’s] entry into this horse, and so of course that leaves things open for speculation,” Matthews said. “This horse was impeccably cared for, so it’s hard to imagine that this horse would end up with this disease. If there was one other horse that I was treating, I would feel more comfortable about a natural cause.”

Ash, though, said it is possible the parasite entered through a small cut that went unnoticed at the time and healed before the onset of symptoms.

The parasite, which lives in dirt, is so rare that little is known about its life cycle, Ash said. Dr. Hailu Kinde of California Diagnostic Lab in San Bernardino, who performed the necropsy, said it was only the second such case he has seen.

“It’s one of those parasites that not much is known about,” said Dr. Walter Boyce of the UC Davis Veterinary Department, one of the state’s leading veterinary schools. “It occurs infrequently.”

Ash said he is aware of three cases of human infestation, all fatal, but none occurred in the U.S. In each case, he said, the victim worked with animal manure and dirt.

Smith thinks the worms were injected, probably in December, judging by the extent of the infestation and the reproduction rate of the worms. She has no suspects, though.

“Somebody can climb over the fence,” Smith said. “This horse is very gentle. You could walk up and give a shot to it. But there are 28 stalls in that barn, and none of them are marked as to which horse is where. So I think it had to be somebody who knew the horse.”

South Pacific was descended from show-jumping royalty. His birth in West Germany in 1982 combined the two legendary European bloodlines of Silbersee and Cor de la Bryere.

From 1993 to 1997, South Pacific placed in about 30 Grand Prix jumping competitions, and he was ranked seventh in the 1994 Grand Prix Horse of the Year standings. He was retired to stud in 1995.

Smith said South Pacific appeared to be in excellent physical condition this spring, but then his groom noticed the horse wasn’t eating properly. Antibiotic and other drug treatments did nothing to halt the horse’s worsening condition, which included kidney problems and progressive blindness.

Smith hopes the $10,000 reward will draw out information.

“I figure that the reward is enough that it would be attractive to somebody that needed money,” she said. “I think this is something that would involve more than one person. A single individual can brag, can let something slip. Somebody gets mad at somebody and wants to get even. It’s amazing what kind of information can slip out.

“You never know. People talk.”