It could be weeks before the results of toxicology tests on the 21 polo ponies that died in Wellington, Fla., on Sunday just prior to competing at the U.S. Open Championship are known, according to Mike Short, DVM, equine programs manager for Florida’s Division of Animal Industry.

The Division of Animal Industry, headed up by the state veterinarian, is working along with the Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine to determine the cause of the deaths.

“We’re working in conjunction with the University of Florida, and I’m sure we’ll be consulting with them, passing samples, and probably sending a lot of samples out for toxicology,” Short said.

Veterinarians sent the carcasses of six of the ponies to the state lab in Kissimmee, and pathologists at the University will necropsy the other 15

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