23 January 2011

They're All Home Now - A Happy Ending for WEG's Iman du Golfe, The Horse Injured During WEG 2010 XC

Iman du Golfe and Juan Carlos Garcia during WEG 2010 (©Equimage® )

(I'm so glad to start the Eventing Day venture on a positive note.  During WEG 2010 XC, the Selle Francaise Iman du Golf (ESP) was severely injured. The course was shut down for more than 40 minutes while emergency crews aided the injured horse. For me and for most others on the sidelines, the worst thing about holds on course, besides the obvious fact that something has gone wrong, is that we dread hearing a poor outcome. We know that not always are there happy endings.  But, in this case, Iman du Golfe has proven that a horse down on course doesn't always have to be a bummer in the long run.  He's back home in France, on the road to recovery.  Here's his story of Southern hospitality, restoration and homecoming, as reported by Janet Patton of the Lexington Herald Leader.  ~ ed)

In just a few seconds on a sunny afternoon last October, Italian eventing horse Iman du Golfe went from the ride of a lifetime to fighting for his life.

In late December, after almost three months of recovery at a Paris farm, the horse flew home to Europe, not just healthy but sound enough to ride.

It was a miracle that Dr. Chris Newton of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital doubted he'd see after the horse tore open his left front leg during the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

"It's fantastic," Newton said. "He was the most significantly injured horse at the World Equestrian Games, and he's now back home. ... It really speaks well that we could have that many horses come here from such tremendous distances to compete at such a high level and not have a single horse not return home. That's rare..." Read more






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