RIP Kauto Star

Its all very sad. It was pure luck that the mare I looked after didn't try to lie down in the cross ties. However, she was not given any pain relief , precisely because the vet wanted it to hurt if she tried to move too much or lie down. I was warned to be very careful when mucking out etc, as the vet said the fracture could give at any time, and she would drop :(.

She settled well enough, though, with constant access to soaked hay on one side and a water bucket on the other, and company always within sight. We didn't monitor her round the clock, although she was regularly checked.

If she'd wanted to go down, she would have done, and none of us could have stopped her (16.2hh of shire cross).

ETA The vet I refer to is a respected equine vet. He's partially retired now, but he's still one of the duty vets that you will see at Aintree on GN day.
 
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I just can’t believe he’s gone, I really am so sad about it all, never even seen the horse in the flesh (I wish I had have done). I hope PN and CS sort things out.

We should be remembering Kauto Star for how he managed to win so many brilliant races, how he was a fantastic race horse probably the greatest one we will see for a while! Not remembering him not enjoying his time doing dressage at Olympia or the spat between PN & CS or the controversy surrounding his death.

He should be remembered for what he was - He won the Betfair chase 4 times, the King George 5 times, the Cheltenham gold cup twice, his time form rating was 191 which is tremendous! He was the top rated steeplechase horses from 2006-2012 – 6 years!!!! He was the most successful steeplechasers this era has seen!!!! He finished his career with nearly £4 million pounds worth of earnings!!! Wow you actually cant say any more!! Just WOW he was amazing. He is (was) one in a million and we won’t see a horse like this again for many many years!!!!!
Condolences for all involved

The Equine and Racing world is mourning a death of a true Equine superstar and I wish some folk on here would just respect that!!!!!

I have put that part in a bigger font just so people actually look at what he did!
 
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ester said:
As annagain, I don't see how anyone would stop half a tonne of horse going down if it happens quickly.
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I'd agree, except that the problem arises with the available quote, to whit; 'He 'must have', gone down during the night'. 'Must-have' would imply that there's no certainty, which would also imply that he wasn't being watched at the time. Yes?

Alec.
 
Is it usual to leave horses cross tied and unattended for long periods of time, even under normal circumstances? Or tied up in any way? I would never do this myself simply because I would want to be there to deal with a mishap (e.g. horse going loopy) promptly.
 
Yes- Ours was cross tied for three months, we didn't watch her all that time! This was 19 years ago so before CCTV was easily available etc. Most horses who are cross tied are cross tied for long periods, at home not hospital, hence being left unattended for periods.
 
I could not be bothered to comment on the egos of those connected with the horse (both trainer and owner!), not LC who in my opinion was damned from the minute she got the horse, (what would have satisfied people? What level did he need to reach for people to be happy?). If the horse went hunting and got hurt you can imagine the press and facebook reactions. If the horse stayed at PNs then we'd have been listening to stories about him being in his box 23 hours a day during the winter etc, etc.

As for the accident, a mare of mine was being led across a yard and spooked at something and lost her hind legs on an icy surface and fell akwardly breaking her pelvis. She was put in cross ties and after a few days went down but with help was got to her feet but again went down a day or two later and this time she could not get up and was PTS. A pm showed 3 fractures to the pelvis and a newer neck problem (thought to have happened when she went down in the cross ties). With horses anything can and does happen. Why can't people just accept that?
I do not know nor have ever met anyone involved.
 
When even gossip rags like PopB*tch are speculating though...
" >> Kauto stir <<
RIP racing legend

News of the sudden death of Kauto Star stunned racing fans this week. There was real sadness.
Kauto Star had more personality than any horse we've ever seen.
His short and sad retirement made us feel much like when you see any sad celebrity demise.
Think Peter Falk, Amy Winehouse, Farrah Fawcett. Perhaps, as fans, we feel complicit that we didn't try and save them from their unhappy fate.

Moved from his home for a shot at Olympic dressage; footage of his dressage trial showed what looked like a very unhappy horse.
A mysterious injury dismissed as a minor incident, a race to the vet's days later with no-one told until after his death.

It may just be as simple as "horse hurts himself", but if he was a Hollywood celebrity TV companies would be rushing to get the
full story out.

More, at Racing Post: http://bit.ly/1IvlOen"
 
Regarding the circumstances of the injuries and vet treatment, it saddens me that one of the greatest racers of his time met such a distressing end.

The way I see it is he's dead now, no longer suffering pain or enduring his new career that clearly didn't make him happy. No longer are egos coming before his best interests and those involved in his demise will have the consequences and their conscience to contend with.

I will always remember him as a racing legend who will always be amongst the titans. Kauto Star, it's been an honour and a privilege, RIP.
 
If it's any small consolation to those who knew and/or loved him, he would have had the best of care once he was taken to Valley Equine. Our old chap has had two operations under GA there and I really can't fault the dedication of the surgeons and yard staff, despite him being more donkey than racehorse.

Desperately sad, but what is done is done and at least Kauto Star isn't suffering any more.
 
I'm glad for the horse's sake that he is dead, though sorry for anyone who is upset about losing him. A professional event yard where he wasn't even important in the sense of being prepared for sale, never mind competing, is no place for a racing superstar and national hero to have ended up. (Does anyone really believe that Laura herself was riding a prelim horse regularly?) I'm glad for him, and us, that we won't have to watch his further decline into an ordinary, and from what we've seen unwilling, ROR dressage horse. Total PR fiasco. Thank goodness the horse himself is at peace now, bless him.
 
We no longer cross tie our broken horses at the yard. Instead we box them in with bales of shavings - unopened. Essentially they have just over a foot of space around the sides and 3 feet behind so they can take a step back, pee etc but they can't turn around and they realise themselves that the space they are given will not allow them to lie down so they don't try. It save head collars rubs and they have constant access to some sort of forage whether it is hay, haylage, nets full of grass, big buckets of chaff etc. And water. One horse we had to make haynets out of chicken wire fencing as she would just eat the nylon ones.

The horse who started off our practice of boxing in instead of tieing was one of the biggest piss takers on the planet. If you showed even the slightest bit of fear of him he would take it to the max. Teeth bared, nostrils flaring, snorting, stamping, tail swishig etc. The number of people that ran away from him was amazing! Phoney was truly awesome! I loved him! He trusted me and he only went for me once - when I gave him a mini chedder! Oh he didn't like that! I regularly shared my lunch with him as I would sit on top of his bales. He ate everything from chocolate to grapes to marmite sandwichs but a mini chedder nearly caused me to lose a leg lol!

We do not.monitor them 24/7. You can't. Most horses settle quite well and aren't a bother once they realise what is going on. Towards the end of Phoneys 6 weeks he got bored and I found him one morning laying on a muckle great big bed of shavings. He had torn apart and completely destroyed the best part of 40 bales of Bedmax! I think we took only 2 or 3 out mostly intact - he'd had an absolute ball destroying the rest and had a proud as punch grin on his wee face when I found. He was king of his own wee castle! I do miss that horse! Unfortunately he didn't come through a 2nd round of box rest. The step in his pelvis never healed. His last 8 weeks were spent boxed in with the best view in the world, the best company I could give him, the best care I could give him. He went with a gleam in his eye, an amazing coat and when he was lead out of his box he gave us one last legendary rodeo show.
 
ycbm said:
I'm glad for the horse's sake that he is dead, though sorry for anyone who is upset about losing him. A professional event yard where he wasn't even important in the sense of being prepared for sale, never mind competing, is no place for a racing superstar and national hero to have ended up. (Does anyone really believe that Laura herself was riding a prelim horse regularly?) I'm glad for him, and us, that we won't have to watch his further decline into an ordinary, and from what we've seen unwilling, ROR dressage horse. Total PR fiasco. Thank goodness the horse himself is at peace now, bless him.
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You know what, I agree with this.
God Bless him, legend of the turf.
 
ycbm said:
I'm glad for the horse's sake that he is dead, though sorry for anyone who is upset about losing him. A professional event yard where he wasn't even important in the sense of being prepared for sale, never mind competing, is no place for a racing superstar and national hero to have ended up. (Does anyone really believe that Laura herself was riding a prelim horse regularly?) I'm glad for him, and us, that we won't have to watch his further decline into an ordinary, and from what we've seen unwilling, ROR dressage horse. Total PR fiasco. Thank goodness the horse himself is at peace now, bless him.
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Have to agree with you re the choice of yard, always thought it was an odd choice and a shame that he was in a yard where he'd never be number one. I also got the feeling that LC was not that bothered about him and she either didn't get how important he was to racing fans or resented it. Can't help feeling that she herself is probably not sorry to see the back of him.
 
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ycbm said:
I'm glad for the horse's sake that he is dead, though sorry for anyone who is upset about losing him. A professional event yard where he wasn't even important in the sense of being prepared for sale, never mind competing, is no place for a racing superstar and national hero to have ended up. (Does anyone really believe that Laura herself was riding a prelim horse regularly?) I'm glad for him, and us, that we won't have to watch his further decline into an ordinary, and from what we've seen unwilling, ROR dressage horse. Total PR fiasco. Thank goodness the horse himself is at peace now, bless him.
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yes, this sums up how I feel.
He won his connections millions but didn't get a camera when he needed one? Not good enough for the best chaser since Arkle, who literally thrilled millions of racing fans.
Watching him race was an absolute highlight of a long period of rehab I had - thank you Kauto Star, you were wonderful.
 
It's not that unusual for a horse with a pelvic fracture to be kept at home rather than at a vet hospital so I'm not sure the fact that they kept him at home for a bit necessarily suggests anything untoward. Travelling them would be a sizeable risk. Two I've had dealings with were both at home, tied up with a single rope, with round bales in box to pen them in. One recovered and has a career as a sports horse, the other didn't improve so was put down.
 
silu said:
There is now a very different account to that which was 1st issued about Kauto's last few days on The Racing Post website. I fail to understand why such a revered horse wasn't thoroughly examined by the very best vets available immediately it was noticed he had a "graze on his flank" especially as Laura Collett had no idea how he had acquired the injury. All us equine owners know that something which appears minor at the outset can quickly become major when the cause of an injury is not known. It is no wonder there are rumours flying about as to how his injury happened, when, intentionally or otherwise misleading accounts have been released. I don't think we'll ever find out the whole truth as to how Kauto got injured, the fact remains that this wonderful horse met a very sad end. I feel extremely privileged to have seen both Arkle and Kauto race in the flesh. It is regrettable that NH nowadays seems to attract a very different type of owner to the majority of those in years gone by.
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When mine fell over on the road out hunting, what presented was a massive haematoma behind his right "elbow," a skinned knee/carpal bone and a skinned stifle. We had the vet meet us at back at the yard, she pumped him full of anti-inflammatories, we gave him anti-bios to be sure and he had two weeks off while the haematoma went down (it actually took only a week - but we gave him the extra week to be sure). That was in early November. He didn't show up lame with the resulting suspensory issue (a by-product of knocking a great lump out of his carpal bone) until the following April - and even then he was only just 2/10ths lame and that was intermittent. In between he was sound as a pound.

I know his injuries were very minor compared with KS - my only point is that vets can only see what's presented to them - and they don't generally x-ray and scan just for some minor scuffs. Honest to God, Kali walked out of his stable the day after his injury as though nothing at all had happened to him - and didn't show a lame step until nearly five months later - when the regrowing bone had ossified and aggravated the ligament.

I'm afraid I'm rather fed up of all the supposition and conjecture here . . . a wonderful, lovely, talented, beautiful racehorse was PTS following a tragic accident. How and why he was injured isn't our business - no matter how famous or loved by the racing public he happened to be. Clive Smith was his owner and HE chose to put him in the care of LC (whether some of the pundits like it or not). Not our decision. Not our horse.

P
 
Mooseontheloose said:
And actually, it's none of our business. We don't own horsey superstars, any more than we own celebrities. We don't need to know everything. And we certainly don't need to make allegations, conjectures, suppositions, when no one can know everything, unless they are the ones directly involved.
I'm impressed KS was considered worthy of main news on radio and tv, and saddened that he has died, but I don't need to know the 'inside story'.
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Well said mouseontheloose. Some of these critics need to put themselves in the shoes of the owner and LC, who both obviously thought a lot of this horse . How would you feel if you had to deal with a situation like this with your horse and then got criticised for it . Regardless of the ins and outs I am convinced that the best that could be done for KS would have been done .
 
anglo said:
Well said mouseontheloose. Some of these critics need to put themselves in the shoes of the owner and LC, who both obviously thought a lot of this horse . How would you feel if you had to deal with a situation like this with your horse and then got criticised for it . Regardless of the ins and outs I am convinced that the best that could be done for KS would have been done .
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If I were putting myself in the shoes of his owner and considering his previous form with KS, I suspect he is gutted he just lost his cashcow. Bloody awful way for a racing legend to go.
 
RunToEarth said:
If I were putting myself in the shoes of his owner and considering his previous form with KS, I suspect he is gutted he just lost his cashcow. Bloody awful way for a racing legend to go.
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I agree, and for those who consider that the facts which surround the demise of KS are no concern of the general public, the parallel would be those humans who place themselves in the public arena, use the media to promote themselves, and then complain about intrusion. Fame has a price tag hanging from the hem and a most certain responsibility too.

Alec.
 
It's a very sad situation, I don't know any of the main players or the horse so can't speculate on whether he was happy or appreciated in his post racing life but I do hope he was because all horses deserve that much. I think though that on one level his having a post retirement career, whatever it was or should have been, did much to benefit the cause of the ex racer generally and that was a good thing.

I do however have personal experience of Valley Equine and vet Lawrence and I can't speak highly enough of them. My mare was not Kauto Star, but she was every bit as valuable to me as he was to his people and his many fans and I have no doubt he received the same high standard of care that she did, so in that regard I think people can be confident that where his veterinary care is concerned anyway, his welfare was the paramount consideration at all times.
 
I haven't commented so far but think the shroud of secrecy since the incident occurred can do nothing except fuel speculation. For example, the latest report in H&H is; they suspect he went down twice in the cross ties on Sat, well that means they had reason to know he'd gone down once but remained unsupervised.
 
ozpoz said:
yes, this sums up how I feel.
He won his connections millions but didn't get a camera when he needed one? Not good enough for the best chaser since Arkle, who literally thrilled millions of racing fans.
Watching him race was an absolute highlight of a long period of rehab I had - thank you Kauto Star, you were wonderful.
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Would you horrible people stop it, read AP McCoys tribute where he says how well KS looked and how happy he was, AP was at LC yard on a more than a regular basis, what do you really know? You are basing your horrible allegations on other peoples posts, for goodness sake a wonderful animal has died to early, why make the whole sad situation worse for the people who loved him.
 
And by the way, I have lost beloved animals in field accidents and thro illness, it did not matter to me whether they where over the hill or in the prime of life We did what we could for them. Which is what I suspect was done for KS, thankfully my beloved horses and dogs were not supposed public property and I was not subjected to ill informed unjust inaccurate nasty comments, as they say what goes around comes around.
 
Wonder why he didn't have a horse body sling fitted, might of been able to stop him going down when x tied? Maybe the type of injury prevented one being fitted, not sure.

Emm.
 
Nice tribute to Kauto on the Morning Line. While the conjecture and PR disaster will become distant memories and those involved pale into insignificance, those of Kauto and his magnificent performances will live on.
 
Supertrooper said:
To be honest I think it's nobody's business apart from those people connected with the horse xx
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That would be correct if the owner had not made the horse public news. No other owner has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons, ever :(.
Laura was handed a poison chalice when sent the horse.............
 
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Bonkers2 said:
That would be correct if the owner had not made the horse public news. No other owner has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons, ever :(.
Laura was handed a poison chalice when sent the horse.............
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The horse made himself public news, this would have happened whether Clive Smith or Joe Bloggs owned him! I don't understand why people seem to think that his owner should have had no say in his future upon retirement. Paul Nicholls didn't train him for the love of it, Clive Smith paid him to do so. His horse, his choice!
 
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