Famous Horses and Euthanasia

I was just thinking about all of the famous horses that have been euthanized, in some freak accidents. How often is it that a famous horse (who is undoubtedly insured for tons of $$$) just dies from old age? Not many. In fact, I've only heard of one - and that was Peppy San Badger himself.

Just think about it for a second; these horses who are held in high regard, with their fairy tale stories ending in undue tragedy. Horses that are cared for to the highest, in the best conditions possible. And in an instant, they're gone.

I'm not saying everyone who's lost a famous horse is trying to be corrupt, but I just wanted to hear answers from others on this question. Do you think that some horses have died, in order for the owners to cash in?

I think that, sure, some of them love their horses, but for just as many that cherish them - there's always someone looking for a quick buck. Or maybe it's just that I'm noticing it in prominent horses more-so because news is made of it? ... I don't know, just something to think about.

Maybe hard to tell but it could be true:/

Not many horses will just 'die of old age' though. Horses generally just keep degrading physically and often will stay in terrible condition for years before they die. So more often, they are put down before they reach such a sorry stage.
I also think, that most of these 'famous horses' are racehorses andhigh level competitions horses, so their joints/bones/soft tissue is going to be significantly weakened as they get older compared to a general riding horse. Making them more likely to have medical issues and accidents later in life.

Sure there would be some owners out there that would claim the horse has had a 'freak accident', but really, I don't think there would be many, and most I would guess, would be in the racing industry.

Alydar was killed purposely. They broke his leg and had him put down for the insurance money. They were caught and that was the end of Calumet. I think it has happened to a lot more horses, only the owner didn't get caught... :(

It really depends on the industry. For example, in the dressage world horses tend not to die young and often retire to a breeding program. Also, a lot of horses (famous or not) simply don't make it to an old, peaceful death: often it comes in the form of a riding accident, a disease etc. Honestly, I do think the majority of euthanizations are justified. It is terrible that they would snap their leg so young, but it is usually easier for them to have their lives ended there and not a few months later after intense pain. I am sure we all know what happened to Barbaro: his staff had good intent and wanted to save him, but after months of pain things were just too awful to continue. Looking back, it would have been better if he was euthanized on site. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few cases of horses dying for benefit of insurance money, but it really depends on the case. The more rigorous the sport, ie eventing and racing are more likely to have higher accident occurences and thus euthanization will occur more frequently.

Look up Buddy and Donna Brown.

I bet that happens more than we know, especially in those sports where horses are purchased in the belief that they will make tons of money. I think racing is a great example. People purchase horses, pay a lot for them expecting to make a lot of money and then if the horses aren't producing want to get their money back. I believe that a lot of horses in that particular industry are purchased by people wanting to make money and not by horse lovers like ourselves. A lot of race horses are put down when they are no longer able to race, even though they could be retrained for something else.

And then look up Barney Ward (McLain Ward- the US olympic rider-'s father). He was was caught with something like 30 prominant horsemen for killing anywhere from 50-100 high end show horses for insurance money. Huge HUGE scandal.

Owners generally don't want to spend the money on putting down, instead taking the $200 from the doggers. You have to pay to have them put down. Unless the horse is a star and in the focus of the media, if the owner is going to put them down, it'll be the doggers that do it.

So horrible to think about.