American Grand Prix dressage rider was forced to make the sad decision to have her second Grand Prix horse Cadillac humanely put down. The 14-year old Danish warmblood gelding was euthanized on Saturday 12 November 2011.
The dark bay gelding by Solos Carex out of Miss Ragtimes Minuett (by Ragtime x Allegro) spent the summer with Haddad in the United States. After a long period of injury he fully returned to show shape and made his come back at the 2011 CDI Hickstead. They were the guinea pigs at the 2011 U.S. Dressage Championships and won the Grand Prix Special at the CDI Saugerties.
The horse was supposed to compete at 2011 Dressage at Devon but was withdrawn because he was fighting off complications from an infection caused by a fractured tooth.
While Haddad flew back to her home base in Vechta, Germany, in October Cadillac remained at the equine clinic of her husband.
According to New Jersey sports, Cadillac had sustained a minor tendon injury in a front leg, which escalated to a full rupture. It could not be surgically repaired, the fetlock dropped and he showed signs of founder in the opposite hoof after a few days in a cast. "There was no hope to make him pasture sound. I made the choice to let him go," Haddad to NJ.com's reporter Nancy Jaffer.
"I have seen my husband, Dr. Greg Staller, save horses that other people have given up for lost. Sadly, even the strongest will and the greatest skill could not save this horse, this time," Haddad wrote in her blog. "In the very end, the decision to take Cadillac’s life was inevitable. He was a special horse, something that I tried to honor by letting him leave this life without extended pain and suffering."
Haddad and Cadillac made their Grand Prix debut in 2007 and since then competed at the major shows in Europe, such as Leipzig, Lyon, Vidauban, Hickstead, Neumunster, Gothenburg, and 's Hertogenbosch.
Photos © Astrid Appels
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