Black weekend for Australian eventing after loss of two horses
Two horse deaths in recent days have rocked Australian eventing, with the loss of Pakistan Olympic hopeful Kasheer, and one-star horse Nightcaps, ridden by Laura Rae.
Kasheer was competing in the Naracoorte Horse Trials 4 star event in South Australia, an Olympic qualifier. He caught his knee on the final jump on the cross-country on Sunday and suffered a rotational fall, landing on his neck. He died instantly of a proximal cervical fracture.
Rider Usman Khan, 39, fell head first and Kasheer landed on him. Khan was unconscious for several minutes.
A statement from Equestrian Australia said Khan was taken to hospital and discharged on Monday night.
The combination had been in second place going into the final cross-country phase.
Kasheer, whose paddock name was Benny, was bred in Australia. He was previously named Riverbreeze, and AIK Kashmir, and previously ridden by Andrew Cooper and Beth Collins. With Cooper, he won the 2019 RM Williams CCI4*S championship at the Australian Three Day Event in Adelaide, and before that he won another CCI4*-S in Albury. The 12-year-old warmblood was by Riverside and from the Capone mare Belcam Capabella.
In September 2020, Khan lost his Olympic contender Azad Kashmir after he suffered an aortic aneurysm.
• Few details are available on Nightcaps, the horse who died at the Tamborine Equestrian Group One Day International Event CCN1*-S after suffering from a cardiovascular event on Saturday, May 15.
Equestrian Australia said that rider Laura Rae “had returned home safely” on Sunday. Nightcaps was known as “Bob”. He was by the Argentine bred thoroughbred stallion Alert, and was from a mare named Bureacracy, according to event entry information.
The Queensland event is hosted by the Tamborine Equestrian Group on the Kelecyn property, owned by the McNab family.
» Eventing injuries and fatalities
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So Sorry. Jen
I was at Camden yesterday – another horse died in between jumps from what was probably a heart attack. It was very sad for all concerned but was handled extremely well by the people on the ground. My best condolences for those involved.
On Sunday a similar accident happened where the horse had to be put down after a mis striding between two jumps. It broke two legs and they loaded it on the trailer to put it asleep and a lot of people were so kind to not only immediately after the horse couldn’t get up after the fall to grab their horses blankets to place on the horse but to only put their trailers around the horse and vet