July 17 marks the one-year anniversary of the deaths of the first two American Saddlebreds near Lexington, Ky., that succumbed to injuries resulting from attacks on their left forelegs. Only two of the five attacked horses survived the ordeal, one of which made a dramatic comeback last fall to win second place in a major competition. During the past year, the attacks have generated a $100,000 reward offer, state legislation, multiple lawsuits, and continuous investigation. (See www.TheHorse.com/sbreds for archived stories on the case.)

The equine victims all lived at Dave and Dena Lopez’s Double D Ranch in Versailles, Ky., and their left front pasterns were injected with a necrotizing substance sometime during the weekend of June 28-29, 2003. Their injuries were discovered the morning of June 30, 2003, setting into motion a whirlwind of veterinary care that included revolutionary new growth factor treatments and hyperbaric chamber therapy, round-the-clock investigation by the Kentucky State Police, and distress for the various animals’ owners.

A reward fund was established by the United States Equestrian Federation; $100,000 was pledged for information leading to the capture and successful prosecution of the perpetrators.

Each horse had a wound ranging from the size of a quarter to 3-4 inches in diameter where the as yet unidentified caustic substance killed the tissue (and had to be sloughed off or removed by veterinarians). The wounds caused extreme pain and the horses to shift their weight to the opposite foreleg, making founder a threat. Two of the horses, including Meet Prince Charming (a 2-year-old gelding owned by Dena Lopez) and Wild Eyed and Wicked (the one which was considered most valuable, owned by Sally Jackson of Overland Park, Kan.), were euthanized on July 17, 2003, because they foundered in those overloaded right forelimbs and their condition continued to deteriorate. A third horse (Kiss Me, a 4-year-old mare owned by Jane Burkhemper) was euthanized the next day. A fourth victim’s injury was not as serious as the others, and that mare (Sassational, then a 3-year-old filly) was back to work by late July 2003. Click here for images of Cats Don’t Dance and Sassational