https://paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/trainer-suspended-after-horses-leg-falls-through-trailer-floor-records-detail-disturbing-aftermathTrainer Suspended After Horse’s Leg Falls Through Trailer Floor; Records Detail ‘Disturbing’ Aftermath --- Witnesses told Maine racing officials that after finally stopping his trailer, Stanley Whittemore kicked the injured Standardbred gelding and used a shovel in an attempt to get him to stand.
Sep 22, 2026 4:02 PM EDT
A motorist followed harness racing trainer Stanley Whittemore’s horse trailer for nearly two miles, honking repeatedly to get him to stop after one leg of the horse he was hauling fell through the trailer floor, according to records obtained by the Paulick Report.
Whittemore reportedly didn’t stop until he reached the stable gate at the Windsor Fair, where multiple witnesses said he kicked the horse and used a shovel to try to get the horse to stand, according to records from the Maine State Harness Racing Commission.
The horse, 5-year-old gelding Vogue Blue Chip, was euthanized due to a catastrophic injury to his right hind leg, according to an incident report from the veterinarian who examined him.
Whittemore was also Vogue Blue Chip’s owner. According to U.S. Trotting Association records, the gelding had made 78 career starts, winning four times with 11 seconds and six thirds while earning $42,551.
Whittemore received the maximum penalty available under the commission’s rule for conduct detrimental to racing: a $1,000 fine and a one-year suspension. The initial ruling described what happened before Whittemore entered the fairgrounds only as an “unfortunate accident” involving his horse trailer. The commission’s investigative file provides a considerably more detailed account.
State steward Greg Kirby wrote that interviews with workers at the stable gate indicated another vehicle followed Whittemore for almost two miles, honking its horn to get the trainer to stop. According to Kirby’s report, Whittemore finally stopped at the gate, where a worker told him the horse had fallen through the trailer floor.
Kirby wrote that Whittemore then “used a shovel as a pry bar and started kicking the horse to get him to stand up,” which Kirby said was impossible because the horse’s leg was through the trailer floor.
Two witness statements included in the commission’s investigative file describe similar conduct.
Jamie Cates wrote that he saw a truck and trailer being followed by another vehicle that was “beeping and trying to stop the truck & trailer.” After the trailer stopped, Cates said he saw the driver kicking the horse.
“The horse was trying to get up, and the driver was kicking the horse trying to get the horse to stand,” Cates wrote.
Cates also described seeing the driver use a shovel through the front of the trailer “as a hammer and pry bar” in an attempt to free the horse’s legs.
Luke Percy gave a similar account. He wrote that when he approached the trailer, he saw Whittemore “kick the horse twice” and yell, “Get the f**king thing up.”
Percy said he then saw Whittemore grab a shovel and begin trying to pry the horse’s leg free.
Veterinary technician Kaela Frith wrote that when she arrived, she could see Vogue Blue Chip’s right hind leg “through the floor of the trailer and dragging on the pavement.”
Veterinarian Dr. Casey Whitehouse wrote that Vogue Blue Chip was standing when she arrived but was visibly lame on his right hind leg. According to Whitehouse’s report, the gelding was unloaded and sedated so the injury could be examined. Whitehouse reported finding exposed cannon bone and a fracture and recommended euthanasia.
Kirby reached his own conclusions about Whittemore’s conduct following a Sept. 4 hearing.
He wrote that the trailer Whittemore was using “was not sufficient to be hauling a thousand-pound animal around” and questioned how Whittemore could have been unaware of the vehicle following him and honking its horn.
“I find it very disturbing that Mr. Whittemore was kicking and using a shovel on the horse that was down in the trailer with his leg through the wooden floor,” Kirby wrote. “And to leave the horse on the Windsor fairgrounds and just leave shows no compassion or remorse for the animal.”
Kirby wrote that he believed Whittemore should receive the maximum penalty available under the applicable commission rule: a one-year suspension and $1,000 fine.
The Maine State Harness Racing Commission told the Paulick Report that, when the incident occurred, “our animal welfare department was notified and provided with a full report.”
The Paulick Report contacted the Maine Animal Welfare Program by phone and email Tuesday to ask whether it opened an investigation into the incident and whether the matter had been referred to law enforcement or prosecutors. No response had been received by publication time.
Whittemore’s racing suspension runs from Sept. 8, 2026, through Sept. 7, 2027.
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