No investigation into endurance horse death

The Italian Horse Protection Association (IHPA) is “upset” that there will be no further investigation into death of a Maktoum-owned endurance horse after a ride last August.

The Italian Equestrian Federation (FISE) — which IHPA first approached 9 months ago — has finally advised no federation rules were broken.

Sonny Richich of the IHPA asked both FISE and the state authorities to intervene after Django De Vere died in a clinic in Sardinia.

Django was the second horse to die in a month when ridden by teenage protégé Saeed Ahmed Jaber Al Harbi.

“It’s quite evident that our welfare motivations are not enough for them even to open an internal investigation,” said Richichi. “That’s very upsetting.”

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound magazine (3 July, 2014)

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