Newport Polo Refuses to Answer Questions About Horse’s Injury
GoLocalProv News Team
Newport Polo Refuses to Answer Questions About Horse’s Injury
Agnes Keating, co-chair of Newport Polo refused to answer reports that the horse was severely injured and may have been destroyed. In response to a number of questions, Keating responded each time with the following statement:
The polo community appreciates the overwhelming outpouring of concern for the horse that was injured in yesterday’s polo match. Injuries are a part of every sport. In this unfortunate event, the horse stumbled, for no apparent reason and went down, sustaining an injury. The horse received immediate veterinary care by its vet & trainers who were present. The rider incurred only minor injuries and was able to resume competing in the match.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTNo further medical information is being provided, and we ask that the media & public respect the privacy of the family that owns the horse.
Raises Concerns
RI DEM’s State Vet Scott Marshall told GoLocalProv he has not been notified of the injury or if the horse had to be destroyed. State regulations do not require his office to be notified.
The Washington Office of PETA raised concerns about the lack of transparency by Newport Polo.
"That public statement (issued by Keating) raises a lot of red flags..the fact that they're not responding to the status of the horse raises concerns. I would want to know who the vet is...anyone who uses an animal for sport will you they're well cared for, but oftentimes they give these animals drugs so they don't feel pain, and injuries happen as a result."
"I can't speculate on what happened here, but transparency is what we need anytime a horse goes down," said PETA Spokesperson Kathy Guillermo.
The sport of polo has come under fire in the past for the treatment of their horses. The most attention getting was the 2010 episode when England’s Prince Harry was accused of animal cruelty yesterday after his horse suffered a bloody injury during a polo match.
According to the Daily Mail, “He was photographed riding a pony that appeared to have been stabbed in the flank by his spurs.
An onlooker claimed that the 25-year-old prince continued to ride his horse while blood was visible on its flank, but St James’s Palace said he stopped playing as soon as the injury was spotted. Animal welfare groups accused Harry of being ‘heartless’.
newportFILM’s 2015 Summer Lineup
July 2nd
Sunshine Superman
Thursday, July 2nd at 8:30pm
Queen Anne Square
A heart-racing documentary portrait of Carl Boenish, the father of the BASE jumping movement, whose early passion for skydiving led him to ever more spectacular –and dangerous– feats of foot-launched human flight.
Length: 101 minutes
Director: Marah Strauch
Producers: Eric Bruggemann, Marah Strauch, Lars Løge, Alex Gibney, Josh Braun, Dan Braun, Samantha Horley, and Phil Hunt
July 9th
Meru
Thursday, July 9th at 8:45pm
St. George's School Lawn
"Meru" is the story of that journey—one of friendship, sacrifice, hope and obsession.
Length: 87 minutes
Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
July 16th
Iris
Thursday, July 16th at 8:30pm
Marble House
The latest film from legendary documentarian Albert Maysles ("Grey Gardens", "Gimme Shelter"), "Iris" pairs the late 88-year-old filmmaker (who passed away on March 5) with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades.
Length: 80 minutes
Director: Albert Maysles
Producers: Laura Coxson, Rebekah Maysles, and Jennifer Ash Rudick
July 23rd
The Diplomat
Thursday, July 23rd at 8:30pm
The Redwood Library and Athenaeum
"The Diplomat" tells the remarkable story of the life and legacy of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, whose singular career spans fifty years of American foreign policy from Vietnam to Afghanistan.
Director: David Holbrooke
July 30th
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Thursday, July 30th at 8:30pm
Doris Duke's Rough Point, 680 Bellevue Avenue, Newport
Classically trained pianist, dive-bar chanteuse, black power icon and legendary recording artist, Nina Simone lived a life of brutal honesty, musical genius and tortured melancholy. In this epic documentary, director Liz Garbus interweaves never-before-heard recordings and rare archival footage together with Nina’s most memorable songs, to create an unforgettable portrait of one of the least understood, yet most beloved, artists of our time.
Length: 102 minutes
Director: Liz Garbus
Producers: Amy Hobby, Liz Garbus, Justin Wilkes, and Jayson Jackson
August 6th
Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict
Thursday, August 6th at 8:15pm
Newport Art Museum
Bouncing between Europe and the United States as often as she would between lovers, Peggy Guggenheim’s life was as swirling as the design of her uncle’s museum, and reads more like fiction than any reality imaginable. "Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict" offers a rare look into Guggenheim’s world: blending the abstract, the colorful, the surreal and the salacious, to portray a life that was as complex and unpredictable as the artwork Peggy revered and the artists she pushed forward.
Length: 97 minutes
Director: Lisa Immordino Vreeland
Producers: Stanley Buchthal, David Koh, Dan Braun, and Lisa Immordino Vreeland
August 13th
Best of Enemies
Thursday, August 13th at 8:15pm
The Elms Mansion Gardens
"Best of Enemies" is a behind-the-scenes account of the explosive 1968 televised debates between liberal Gore Vidal and conservative William F. Buckley Jr., and their rancorous disagreements about politics, God and sex.
Length: 87 minutes
Directors: Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon
Producers: Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville
August 20th
Racing Extinction
Thursday, August 20th at 8:00pm
Location TBD
Oscar®-winning director Louie Psihoyos ("The Cove") assembles a team of artists and activists on an undercover operation to expose the hidden world of endangered species and the race to protect them against mass extinction. Spanning the globe to infiltrate the world’s most dangerous black markets and using high tech tactics to document the link between carbon emissions and species extinction, "Racing Extinction" reveals stunning, never-before seen images that truly change the way we see the world.
Length: 94 minutes
Director: Louie Psihoyos
Producers: Fisher Stevens, Olivia Ahnemann, and Gina Papabeis
August 27th
Harry & Snowman
Thursday, August 27th at 8:45pm
Newport Polo Grounds
"Harry & Snowman" is a feature length documentary that tells the remarkable life story of international show jumping legend Harry deLeyer, whose career was launched by his famous show jumping horse Snowman.
Director: Ron Davis
Producers: Ron Davis, Nancy Knox Talcott, Clay Westervelt, Karin Reid Offield (Exec. Producer), and Paul Winston Blavin (Exec. Producer)
September 3rd
Tiger, Tiger
Thursday, September 3rd at 7:30pm
Norman Bird Sanctuary
Set in one of the least known landscapes left on earth, "Tiger, Tiger" is the story of a man with numbered days seeking to save the tiger, an animal whose days may also numbered. Director George Butler.
Length: 90 minutes
Director: George Butler
Producers: Julian Robertson, Caroline Alexander, and Keero Birla
