Elite event rider loses six horses in stable fire
Six horses died in a fire that broke out early yesterday morning (Tuesday 31 May) at the stables of three-day-eventer Boyd Martin.
Three people suffered minor injuries while trying to free horses from the barn in Pennsylvania.
The six horses that perished were Call Me Ollie, Charla, Ariel, Phantom Pursuit, Cagney Herself and Summer Breeze.
Call Me Ollie and Charla had competed at international level.
Australian-born Boyd, now living in the US, is understood to have been leasing the barn from American Olympic and World Equestrian Games team member Phillip Dutton.
Early reports blame an electrical fault for the fire.
It took firefighters more than two hours to get the fire under control.
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The United States Eventing Association said 11 horses had been in the barn at the time.
Four horses are being treated at the New Bolton Center, including are Boyd’s WEG mount Neville Bardos, Otis Barbotiere, Catch a Star and Ambassador’s Rose.
A fund, to help Boyd and the stable staff, has been set up.
Read Boyd’s blog regarding the fire here
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.