The death of Chromatic BF shortly after a brilliant performance at the FEI World Cup Show Jumping Finals in Saudi Arabia April 18 was a devastating development that seemed unreal.
The 13-year-old Oldenburg appeared to be in great condition as he flew over the fences under the guidance of rider Jill Humphrey, and his third-place finish in the class that evening was the best performance by a U.S. entry thus far in the competition that would wrap up three days later.
But 90 minutes after the class ended at 9:30 p.m., the horse was dead.
Jill Humphrey and Chromatic get their third-place trophy at the World Cup finals.
The loss of Chromatic as jubilation dissolved into tears cast a pall over the first World Cup show jumping final presented in the Middle East.
A report on the necropsy performed at King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia included information that the horse had been treated at 10:41 p.m. with 4 milliliters of Legend, 5 of Adequan, 20 of Traumeel, 20 of arnica and 20 of Selevit, a selenium/vitamin combination.
At 10:44 p.m., Chromatic returned to his stall. A minute later, he began to stumble. Chromatic received dexamethasone at 10:48 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 10:59.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Equestrian Federation revised a statement about the situation that it had released on Monday.
“We have received the final necropsy report for Chromatic BF who passed away at the FEI World Cup Finals in April. The cause of the death was severe diffuse pulmonary hemorrhage and edema, which could be attributed to multiple causes, including disseminated intravascular coagulation (most commonly observed in severe sepsis and septic shock, according to the Medscape website); cardiopulmonary failure, shock, and exercise-associated fatal pulmonary hemorrhage. The report further indicates that the histopathologic findings raise the suspicion of fatal equine exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage, despite Chromatic BF not exhibiting any overt signs of such condition. According to the final report, the administered medications were not identified as the cause of death.”
Dr. Stephen Schumacher, USEF chief veterinary officer, indicated the necropsy report is not conclusive as to the cause of the hemorrhage and edema.
Branscomb noted there was “some really upsetting information” in the necropsy report.
“It’s significantly different than what I believed to be true, and potentially (has) much more extensive consequences.”
She said the manufacturer’s label on Selevit says it can “cause anaphylactic shock and sudden cardiac death in horses. You have to have corticosteroids and epinephrine standing by and it’s contraindicated to ever give it intravenously.
“It’s only given to horses documented for selenium deficiency, which my horse was not,” she mentioned.
“Now I’m finding out there was more and that I was not told the truth.”
Branscomb said that originally, “I had thought it was just an honest mistake and that everyone was being transparent and forthcoming and genuinely interested in both the truth and preventing it happening again. Now I’m not so sure about any of that.”
She believes the horse was killed by a “shock reaction to the IV injection of unecessary and risky medications, done without anyone on my team’s knowledge…more than 90 minutes after my horse performed perfectly and returned healthy and fit to the stables with his lifetime groom. That is my truth and I stand by it.”
Branscomb noted, “This is unbelievably upsetting and I don’t even know where to go with it. Thirty-five years of breeding, the first American-bred horse in 37 years to contest the World Cup final. He was the flagship of my breeding farm.”
The Californian explained, “I kept him the whole 13 years and developed him so we could show the world what American breeding could produce. He was doing the job and he would have podiumed. They robbed me of it and that’s not okay.”
In the wake of Chromatic’s death, she had worked with USEF to come up with the draft of a revised horse participation consent agreement that said “no substances will be administered to the horse unless the USEF-appointed veterinarian first obtains written consent from the athlete,” unless it’s an emergency situation.
