A 5-year-old horse named Mr. Spots died Wednesday evening as he was led out of his temporary stall at the Kentucky State Fairgrounds. His horseshoe hit a metal bar on the floor of his stall and electrocuted him, his trainer Lisa Lesch confirmed to Kentucky Public Radio.
It was a shocking and tragic start to a premier event in the world of saddlebred horses, the World Championship Horse Show.
Two years ago, the show was enmeshed in drama when it suddenly split from the U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF), the national governing body for most equestrian sports, ahead of its 2024 show. The decision was announced shortly after the federation released a lengthy compliance inspection report and sent a letter to then-Kentucky Ventures CEO David Beck laying out the many issues that would need to be addressed.
That Jan. 2024 letter contained 13 conditions that USEF said would be incorporated into the year’s competition license agreement. It specifically noted issues with “electric power installations,” and said the board needed to ensure they “do not pose a safety threat to stabled horses.”
It is unclear if issues noted in the 2023 report are to blame for Mr. Spots’ electrocution. A spokesperson for the fair board said an investigation is underway, and that all tents had their required inspections. Spokesperson Ian Cox blamed an electrical short on a cord “not provided by the show.”
“Kentucky Venues installs and grounds the tents and provides electrical service to the distribution boxes, and exhibitors are responsible for the cords and equipment they bring into their leased stall space,” Cox said. “Continued inspections across the property and direct communication with exhibitors remain a priority.”
Cox did not respond to several questions about whether the fair board had incorporated feedback from USEF’s report, or if they had made any electrical improvements to the show since 2023.
The 2023 report especially noted electrical boxes placed “in areas where water runoff collected, resulting in wiring and hay mixed in wet areas.”
After the incident last week, competitors were told they needed to use a specific type of grounded cables for extension cords. Several trainers who had horses stabled in the temporary tents where the electrocution occurred said they were told they could not run the fans they had brought with them, nor their air conditioning or refrigerators.
One trainer, who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation, said she was especially concerned for her horses in the late August heat.
“It's not a good situation. Not for the cost for everybody to get here and the hard work that goes into it,” the trainer said. “We should all be excited.”
Another trainer competing at the event this year said they feared safety would be compromised at the event because they didn’t know if the issues brought up in the USEF report had been addressed.
At the time, the fair board said it had split with USEF because the federation supported shows they considered competition to the World Championship Horse Show and because of a lack of “on-site [rule] enforcement.”
The horse show runs through Saturday, Aug. 29. The Kentucky State Fair concludes the day after.
