Lake Worth, FL – Four of the horses rescued from the devastating barn fire at the South Florida Trotting Center have returned home.
Celebrity Lover, Celebrity Tsipras, Celebrity Artemis and Celebrity Lambo were all released from Reid & Associates Equine Hospital late Friday afternoon. All four of the horses suffered burns on their backs and some on their necks and rumps.
Seven of the injured horses remained at the Hospital in Loxahatchee and it was not clear when they would be released.
As the returning horses were removed from their trailer, all had visible burn injuries.
Each will need to be monitored over the next several weeks for upper respiratory and lung issues, and the horses may require hyperbaric oxygen treatments, said Sam Stathis, owner of the four horses and the owner of the South Florida Trotting Center.
"They're not in extreme danger, but (there's) caution that they're not out of the woods with the respiratory issues," he said. "They need 24 hour a day care. We thought it better that they live on the farm and we hand walk them so they don't get psychological issues. They've been through enough."
Stathis said veterinarians will come to the center each day, to tend to the recovering animals.
Stathis lost one of his own horses, but had four survive. He said he's taking responsibility for all horses in the barn that burned.
"I'm ecstatic that the first four horses have returned to the farm," Stathis said. "And we are doing everything possible to insure that the remaining seven will come home too. I can't wait for that day to come."
By Steven Wolf for Stathis Enterprises