Beutler & Son Rodeo Company based near Elk City, Okla., have lost in the neighborhood of 70 horses after the animals ate feed containing monensin, say news reports.

Beutler and Son has provided rodeo livestock for more than 90 years, to rodeos nationwide.

In a television news interview with local station, News 9, Beutler said “there has been a Beutler in the rodeo business since 1929.”

The legendary stock contractor provides bulls, bucking horses, calves and steers to rodeos around the region and country.

Bennie Beutler and son Rhett are the force behind the rodeo stock company.

According to a statement from The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, that agency was alerted to a potential issue of Beutler & Sons horses being affected by a feed order on Aug. 23, 2024.

Kendra Santos reported that the Beutler & Son veterinarian Dr. Gregg VeneKlasen said that the horses were given horse feed that had somehow included “a huge amount” of monensin (brand name Rumensin) in it, reported Santos in a Facebook story.

The television story reported that young foals are now being bottle fed after losing their mothers.

Beutler said in the television interview, they have about 140 head of horses remaining, 70 of those ready to rodeo.

Their hometown Elk City Rodeo is scheduled for this coming weekend.

TESTING FEED SAMPLES

As the state regulator of animal feed, an ODAFF inspector visited the Beutler and Son site on behalf of the department on Monday, Aug. 26, and learned that the feed originated in Kansas. The ODAFF inspector collected a feed sample which is being analyzed in two state-certified laboratories.

ODAFF has informed the Kansas Department of Agriculture of the inspector’s site visit and continues to work in coordination with KDA. ODAFF has assisted Beutler and Son Rodeo Co. with carcass disposal to ensure all state regulations were adhered to.

State Veterinarian Dr. Rod Hall encourages all livestock and pet owners to be judicious in reviewing labels on feed provided to animals in their care and contact a veterinarian with whom they have a strong veterinary-client-patient relationship if they have questions about the safety of their feed or ingredients about the safety of their feed or ingredients.

Following is an excerpt from a 2013 Tri-State Livestock News story by Jan Swan Wood: Bovatec, with the scientific name of lasalocid, is most often used for cattle in pasture or on forage.

Rumensin, or monensin, is used in feedlots to help prevent acidosis and to control feed intake on high-grain diets while increasing gains in beef cattle. It also helps to prevent coccidiosis in cattle. Rumensin (monensin) is used in chicken feed also. Rumensin, however, can be toxic to sheep.

The two products, though beneficial for the animals they are meant for, can be very dangerous for horses. Ionophores are a class of drugs that are particularly toxic to horses and it doesn’t take very much to do the damage. Rumensin is 10 times more toxic than bovatec and less than one half a gram can be fatal to a horse. They can also be deadly to dogs.

Kadoka, S.D., veterinarian Dr. Bill Headlee, DVM, said, “We had a client have nine head of horses get into about a 25-pound bag that was in the back of the pickup. They had scattered it around and eaten some of it. Three of the nine died and it took the others a long time to get over it.”

SYMPTOMS AND LONG-TERM DAMAGE

When horses ingest an ionophore they will demonstrate some or all of the following symptoms: muscular weakness, colic-like symptoms, trouble breathing, lack of appetite, diarrhea, stiffness, lethargy, a blue tinge to gums and membranes (cyanosis), pulmonary edema, degeneration of the heart muscle and kidney damage.

When a horse survives ionophore poisoning, they can have long-term damage, including heart damage which could result in sudden death during exertion weeks or months later. “One horse we treated had muscle weakness and unthriftiness for several years afterward. We attributed that to kidney, heart and muscle damage,” Headlee said.

Not much can be done for a horse that has ingested an ionophore as there isn’t an antidote. Headlee said that one might give the horse mineral oil or activated charcoal to move it through the system faster, in hopes of preventing some of the damage.

Horses are known for being nosey and getting into feed they shouldn’t, as the nine did that Headlee treated, but problems can also occur through cross-contamination of feed. Feed mills are generally very careful to clean out the mixing area before making a different kind of feed, but, even with great care, a small amount of rumensin or bovatec could still get mixed with a batch of horse feed. If that happened, and it was the deadlier rumensin, it could be enough to kill horses that ate the next batch of feed.

Another problem involves the feeding of cattle or sheep feed to horses, thinking that if it’s good for one, it will be good for the other. If a person is going to feed that way, it is critical that they not only read the label carefully but that they talk to the nutritionist that is involved with the feed. If there is any question, it would be good to also have a veterinarian knowledgeable in equines look the label over too.

The safest thing that a horse owner can do is to use feed specifically produced for horses, in a mill that only produces horse feeds. In lieu of that, read labels carefully and check with a veterinarian to be certain.

If a farm or ranch is going to have products on hand with rumensin or bovatec in them, it would be prudent to keep them separate from any other feed and locked up so that horses can’t possibly get into it. Don’t ever put horses in an area where other livestock has been fed anything with an ionophore in it, as horses tend to keep looking for one more nibble of feed after cattle or sheep have quit eating.

BEUTLER FAMILY HISTORY

Earlier in the Beutler family’s career, the Beutler Brothers purchased a palomino gelding named Descent that went on to claim the “Bucking Horse of the Year” award a record six times. 

The rodeo family was also very instrumental in helping to form the first National Finals Rodeo held in Dallas, Texas, in 1959. 

Beutler and Son owned such well-known rodeo stock as Old Spec, a spotted, cross-bred Brahma bull.  During Spec’s reign, he was only ridden seven times in over 350 attempts, over a seven-year bucking career.  At both the 1959 and 1960 National Finals Rodeo in Dallas, Spec was named as the best bucking bull. Another notable animal was Sam Bass, the 1973 Bareback Horse of the Year.

Some of their award-winning stock are: Cowtown, the 1985 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Bull of the Year and the 1984 and 1985 NFR Top Bucking Bull; Blowout, the 1985 PRCA Saddle Bronc of the Year; Challenger, the 1987 PRCA Saddle Bronc of the Year; Commotion, the 1998, 1999 and 2000 PRCA Bareback Horse of the Year and the 1997 Top Bareback Horse of the NFR; Voodoo Child, the 2007 and 2008 PRCA Bull of the Year; Killer Bee, the 2013 Top Saddle Bronc of the NFR; and Wound Up, the 2017 PRCA Saddle Bronc of the Year and the 2016 Top Saddle Bronc of the NFR.

The Beutler & Son 2023 NFR lineup included: Barebacks — Bar Talk, Black Kat, Happy Hour, Ghost Town; Saddle Broncs — Foul Motion, Hammer Stone, Rage; Bulls — Viper, Coupe De Ville.