It shocks saddens me to write that one of the best athletes in the history of eventing has passed away. Phillip Dutton’s World Equestrian Games mount Woodburn passed away on Tuesday at the New Bolton Center veterinary hospital at the University of Pennsylvania from what is believed to be internal bleeding. I spoke with Phillip, who told me that his stable manager Emma Ford arrived at True Prospect Farm early Tuesday morning and could immediately tell that Woodburn was in distress. Phillip’s vet, Kevin Keane, quickly arrived and Woodburn was rushed to New Bolton. Woodburn got to New Bolton as quickly as he could, but the team of vets was ultimately unable to save him from the internal bleeding that is suspected to have originated in his spleen. A necropsy will be performed to learn more.
To simply stand by Woodburn in his stall was to behold eventing greatness and watching him gallop across the cross-country was so much more. Phillip expressed it best by noting “It’s fair to say that I will never ride a better cross-country horse. He had great speed, endurance, athleticism, and he was very clever. He was the entire package.”
Phillip told me that he was still in shock, and Eventing Nation’s well wishes reach out to the entire True Prospect team. In many ways, Woodburn was a king in that barn and he was deeply loved by everyone at TPF. The 15 year old thoroughbred competed at Rolex 3 times, finishing 10th, 12th, and then 2nd in 2010, and he represented the United States at the WEGs in October of that year. Woodburn was having a light year after the WEGs and was on track to possibly representing the United States at the London Olympics in 2012.
