The carcasses of 15 polo horses were delivered to UF's College of Veterinary Medicine early Monday morning for testing to determine the cause of death for 21 of the animals in Wellington, Fla.
The horses, part of a polo team from Venezuela, were set to compete in the U.S. Open on Sunday afternoon. However, the animals became dizzy, some even falling down. All afflicted horses died within 24 hours.
Six of the carcasses were transported to the Florida Department of Agriculture laboratory in Kissimmee, Fla.
UF was initially asked to perform necropsies on eight of the horses; procedures that include a physical inspection, on-site testing under a microscope and off-site blood and tissue testing.
Each animal was valued at up to $200,000.
The horses were insured, and testing was required to make a death benefit claim.
Pathologists were unsure how long the testing would take, but the first tests on eight horses were completed by 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
Sarah Carey, a spokeswoman for the college, said that the lab results' ability to determine cause of death may depend on how quickly the horses died after being stricken.
"If the horses died within two hours, it may not show up in the organs," she said.
On Tuesday, testing for the additional six horses was requested.
The college charges $1,155 for basic in-lab testing of each horse, and additional tests add to the fee. Carey believes that many of the horses will undergo extra testing, she wrote in an e-mail.
The college has received significant media attention following the arrival of the horse carcasses, but care has been taken to shield the working pathologists from the media to allow them to focus on their jobs.
"We're not doing any of it for notoriety," she said. "Our concern is getting the science right."
Confidentiality laws involving animals are similar to those between a doctor and a human patient; only the parties who commissioned the tests will have access to the results unless they choose to release the information to the public.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
