Last night at the Canby Rodeo, as Rodeo Princess Erica Roney was making a royalty arena run on her 21-year-old horse Batty, the horse collapsed and suddenly died. A friend of mine was at the performance and said it was quite tragic. He said he couldn’t believe his own eyes that he just saw this happen. Thankfully, Princess Roney was not injured in the incident. As the rodeo princess sobbed at the side of her deceased horse, many in the crowd were in tears. I’m glad I wasn’t there.
The story that ran on the Canby Herald and Molalla Pioneer websites quotes a local veterinarian saying the horse suffered a “cardiac emergency, resulting in sudden death.” He said those kinds of occurrences are rare for horses.
I heard that representatives from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were on hand immediately. I haven’t seen a press release from them yet, but I’m assuming they’ll agree it was just a freak accident and was unavoidable. After all, horses ridden by rodeo princesses are treated quite well by their respective princesses. They are treated like family. I’m sure this princess, as evidenced by her emotional reaction to the horse’s death, was quite kind her to her animal.
No matter, this story made me sad when I read it. Nobody wants to read about anything dying.
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