Olympic Eventer Lionheart Euthanized

The 12-year-old Westphalian gelding was euthanized Jan. 18 in Florida following two colic surgeries.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Lionheart, a member of the 2012 British Olympic silver medal eventing team and recently purchased mount for U.S. eventer Allison Springer, has died. The 12-year-old Westphalian gelding was euthanized Jan. 18 in Florida following two colic surgeries.

The initial surgery, performed on Jan. 14 at Palm Beach Equine in Wellington, Fla., appeared at first successful, a statement on Springer’s Facebook page stated. “The doctors were able to quickly find and resolve an impaction in his small intestine,” the post read. “We were incredibly fortunate to have caught things very early, and as a result his surgery was minor in comparison to most colic surgeries that take place. Lion woke up from surgery very well, and all of the vets involved are optimistic that he will have a quick, non-complicated recovery.”

However, the colic did not resolve, and on Jan. 18, the second surgery was performed and euthanasia advised, said Robert Brusie, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, who, along with Kathleen A. Timmins, DVM, and a team of external experts, cared for Lionheart during his illness. That surgery confirmed that vascular damage to the horse’s intestines had occurred, Springer’s statement said.

“The horse had excellent care, and there was nothing in the history that would explain the vascular accident or infarct (emboli or clot that blocks blood flow) that compromised the cecum and large colon,” Brusie told The Horse. “This sort of vascular accident, similar to a stroke, is very unusual in my experience

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Passionate about horses and science from the time she was riding her first Shetland Pony in Texas, Christa Lesté-Lasserre writes about scientific research that contributes to a better understanding of all equids. After undergrad studies in science, journalism, and literature, she received a master’s degree in creative writing. Now based in France, she aims to present the most fascinating aspect of equine science: the story it creates. Follow Lesté-Lasserre on Twitter @christalestelas.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
293 votes · 293 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!