4 Friesians dead and probably more to die. Please help!

I've come here for help...

4 Friesians at my horse stable have died for unknown reasons. I live in Central America where it is very very hot and humidity is above 90% in the rainy season.

Days after piaffe training/high school training they have presented symptoms of laminitis, chronic diarrhea and stomach problems. Only adult horses have presented these symptoms and have died days after the training. None of our Friesian Colts have died or presented these symptoms.

We also have Spanish horses that go through the same training and they are all healthy and are not going through any of these symptoms. They go through the same care of our Friesians.

We are not feeding our Friesians alfalfa.


Please help, I don't know what to do anymore. The vet doesn't know either. I've had two vets come and they don't know...

Thats terrible. I hope the others don't die

I don't nkow what to do but ill keep the horses in my prayers!try to get more than one vet out there.

Is Potomac Horse Fever common in your area?

O wow that is awful. Could the heat be killing them?? Im so sorry =(

Maybe they ate a plant that is poisonous?

Has the vet done any bloodwork on these horses? Or a fecal culture? If not, it would be a good idea.

I would also recommend that you look at the other things that are similar about these paraticular horses vs. the horses that have not gotten ill such as exactly what they are eating that the others are not since it's GI issues.

A story was in The Horse...it was something about polo ponies suddenly dying. The autopsies revealed that it was some sort of contaminant in a supplement that had been mixed for them.

I would get a necropsy on the ones that died to try and find something.

The only thing I can say is that I highly doubt that it has to do completely with the work that they are doing, as the symptoms don't present themselves until days later. Whatever it is, is probably related to something that they ate that harmed them, and that the work was just the catalyst to start their decline. Questions to ask are "do they go out to pasture, and is it possible that there is something in the pasture that is poisonous", like others mentioned, is it something in their feed that they are getting that's different from what the spanish horses and babies are getting. I would highly recommend tests, and necropsy of the horses who have died. I had a horse that was sick, and it wasn't until after we put him down and did a necropsy that we were able to find out what had been wrong with him, as his tests had all come back normal. I wish you the best of luck, and I hope you find out what it is soon.

I agree with everyone about a necropsy if at all possible to do on one of the dead horses. I would also err on the side of caution and not feed anything that those horses had been fed or supplements they had been given to any other horses until it can be determined if that could have been the cause.
There were 21 or so polo ponies in FL that died due to a error in pharmaceuticals in the supplements they were given. A toxicology test could determine if there are any toxins in their system.