Eventer Phillip Dutton’s World Equestrian Games partner, Woodburn, was euthanized on August 2nd after suffering an apparent internal hemorrhage. The 15-year-old New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred (Herewood the Wake x Princess Heights) placed second at the 2010 Rolex Kentucky ****, and was the anchor ride for the fourth-placed US team at the WEG in 2010, placing 18th individually.
He was owned by Jess, Sharon and Robyn Sweely of Acorn Hill Farm, Annie Jones, and Mardie Faucette.
Woodburn was imported to the US from New Zealand by Liz Millikin, and competed through the CCI2* level with Emily Beshear before Dutton took up the reins. As a pair, Dutton and Woodburn never had a cross-country jumping fault. This recent loss was compounded by the death of a number of horses in a tragic barn fire earlier this year at Dutton’s True Prospect Farm in West Grove, PA. “In this year we have truly experienced the reality of life and the consequences of tragedy….I have no doubt that I will never ride a better cross-country horse in my life,” said Dutton of Woodburn in a tribute on his website.
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