08:11 AM CDT on Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Associated Press

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Veterinarians at Texas A&M University are trying to help determine what caused more than two dozen horses to die at a College Station stable.

Twenty-eight horses died within a 24-hour period between Sunday and Monday, said Brad Raphel, co-owner of the Carousel Acres Equestrian Center and Stable. He said Tuesday that two-thirds of his personal herd of show horses was among those that died. The stable had 60 horses total, including some that were being boarded there.

"We had some beautiful imported stallions and mares—quite expensive. They're down," he said.

Raphel and his wife, Beverly, first noticed something wrong with the horses Sunday afternoon. He said that tests were being conducted to find the cause of death for the horses, but the deaths were likely not caused by anything contagious.

"We've had the autopsies done and they think it was one of the toxins used to kill the weevils," Raphel said.

H. Richard Adams, dean of the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine, said that the school is doing tests on the tissues and gastrointestinal content of the horses in conjunction with the State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, which is also doing tests on the horses' feed and bedding.

"The fact that this occurred so quickly suggests that there was a toxic principle released somehow within those stables to have affected so many horses so quickly. We have some compounds that we are pursuing but it's not definitive yet," Adams said Tuesday. "I'm not aware of anything that's ever happened of this magnitude and suddenness.

Adams said that it could take up to 48 hours for tests to determine the cause of the horses' deaths.