Officials in Italy have released the names of eight reining horses killed on Sept. 30 when the transport rig they were riding in caught fire on an Italian highway.
On Saturday, a representative with the Italian Reining Horse Association released names of the horses killed in the crash:
- Automatic Gun, 10S, (Colonels Smoking Gun [Gunner] x Scoots Lil Bo x Little Badger Bo)
- Captain Badger Feona, 12G, (AB Captain Badger x RS Feona McJac x McJac Flash).
- Hot Snapper Chex, 10S, (Hot Smokin Chex x Snapper Sugar Bar x Snapper Cal Bar).
- Jessie Sailor, 12S, (Frozen Sailor x Jessie Oak Tari x ARC Oak Enterprise).
- Mr Monstermax , 15S, (HF Mobster x Starmax RM x Grays Starlight).
- Topsail Badger Mr, 09S, (BR Little Peppy x ARC Count Me Cody x Topsail Cody).
- Whizfrozenrevolution, 15S, (Frozen Sailor x Zananna Revolution x Einsteins Revolution).
Details of another horse said to be killed in the incident, Shining Nemesis, were not available in databases maintained by Equi-Stat, the American Quarter Horse Association or the American Paint Horse Association. He was owned by Slide Or Die LLC.
Officials have not released details of what caused the fire. No people were hurt.
The horses were said to be returning from a reining maturity in Northern Italy when the incident occurred.
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Reining Horses Killed In Italy Truck Fire
The global reining community is mourning after reports surfaced that a transport rig carrying show horses caught fire on an Italian highway.
Giorgia Codeluppi, of Cardinal Ranch, which stands Slide Or Die LLC’s stallion, Inferno Sixty Six, said two of Slide Or Die’s horses were among those killed when the professional transport rig they were riding in caught fire Sunday afternoon on a highway in Northern Italy.
She said a fire in the cab of the rig quickly spread to an attached compartment housing 8 horses, which all died, but crews were able to save additional horses riding in a bumper-pull trailer being towed by the main rig. The horses were returning from a reining in Manerbio, a city about 70 miles east of Milan, Codeluppi said.
Initial reports stated 10 horses were in the attached bumper-pull trailer and had survived. A later report indicated there were only 5 horses in the bumper-pull trailer, making for a total of 8 dead and 5 survivors.
An official statement regarding the incident – including details of what may have caused the fire or the names of all the horses involved — had not yet been released as of Tuesday afternoon.
Codeluppi said she was told the transport company’s staff, who all survived, had also attempted to save the horses in the main compartment, but were overcome by flames.
“It was too quick, too bad and they couldn’t do anything with those,” she said.
Photos posted in the Gazzetta di Parma newspaper website showed a cab that was burned out completely, with a blackened interior and the rig’s front tires burned or melted down to the rims. Additional photos showed surviving horses tied to a highway guardrail.
Slide Or Die lost Automatic Gun, a 2010 stallion by Colonels Smoking Gun (Gunner) that Slide Or Die LLC owner Domenico Lomuto often rode in competition, Codeluppi said.
Earlier this year, Lomuto and the bald-faced sorrel competed together in the Rome Shoot In.
Bred by Melanie K Petroll, of Whitesboro, Texas, Automatic Gun was out of Scoot Lil Bo (by Little Badger Bo). He had an Equi-Stat record of $8,378, which he compiled at events in Italy, Germany and France.
Slide Or Die also lost a 3-year-old gelding, Shining Nemesis, in the crash, Codeluppi said.
She said a number of other owners also lost horses in the crash. Those names have not yet been confirmed.
In the wake of the crash, a number of horse industry players and organizations, including the Italian Reining Horse Association, posted condolences on social media.
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