Horses’ Deaths in Equestrian Center Polo Match Under Investigation

The Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation said Monday that it is investigating the deaths of two horses during a polo match at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Griffith Park last month.

Robert I. Rush, department general manager, said investigators will try to determine whether those horses and others used for polo matches have been mistreated or poorly trained at the facility. He said criminal charges could be filed against officials at the center.

But the center’s trainers and officials called the horses’ deaths “an unfortunate fluke” and denied any mistreatment.

The horses, both thoroughbreds, each broke a leg during the first few minutes of a March 11 polo match and had to be destroyed, said Vincent Azzaro, the center’s director of polo.

“It’s extremely rare that something like that happens,” Azzaro said. “They both took a bad step in the first minutes. That kind of thing never happens. I mean, accidents happen, but unfortunately we had two in one night.”

However, Rush said he had received information about other incidents at the center. He declined to elaborate.

John Alexander, a spectator at the March 11 match, wrote a letter to several city officials saying he had attended matches at the center’s Equidome on a “few occasions” and “each time I have been there, a horse has been killed.”

“Arena polo is an especially cruel and deadly variation in what is already a dangerous and injury-plagued sport,” he wrote.

The letter continued: “Polo ponies are . . . trusting of their riders. They attempt to make incredible high-speed turns in a jumble of mallets and other horses’ legs, which all too often leads to injury and death for the horses.”

Horse boarders at the center, who asked not to be identified, said they had seen polo ponies with large open sores being ridden during the matches.

However, Azzaro insisted that polo ponies are properly trained, treated and fed at the center. He said the recent deaths of the polo ponies have been the only ones at the facility.

“We make sure they’re fit and kept in shape,” he said. “I don’t know what these people are talking about.”