Frodo Baggins which was the leading Dark Rider horse in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies has sadly been killed in the U.S. the thoroughbred comes from New Zealand and was named after the lead character from LOTR. The US Equestrian Federation has said “The entire eventing community is deeply saddened by the loss of this incredibly brave horse.”
Frodo Baggins as well as one other horse was taking part in the cross-country phase of the Kentucky Three-Day Event when they received serious injuries so had to be euthanized. Frodo fell at the fence and was treated and was then stabilized, but further results showed that the horse had a fracture at the base of his skull and also server lung injury, which was why he had to be euthanized.
The American rider Laine Ashker had multiple injuries; these include a broken ribs and clavicle, broken jaw as well as collapsed lungs. Ashker had owned Frodo Baggins for about five years, Ashker recently stated “Although Frodo had never done a stitch of eventing in New Zealand, he was no stranger to success and more importantly, vast audiences.” He then went on to say “In addition to filming the movie over a course of eight months, he also paraded around New Zealand for fans, met the prime minister of New Zealand, and even walked down the red carpet at the premiere of the film with Elijah Woods“.
Source – TV3
Sad, sad day. Eventing needs to take a long, hard look at itself. There have been way too many fatalities recently.
Comment by Fliss — April 28, 2008 @ 11:20 pm