For the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine’s (CVM) equine veterinary health community, 2020 began on a somber note. On January 1, we lost our longtime equine blood donor and public ambassador, Hercules, who had to be euthanized due to complications from colic. He was 21 years old. 

Over the past 18 years, the feisty 2,000-pound Belgian draft horse joined members of the CVM’s teaching herd in providing life-saving blood donations to horses undergoing care at the University’s Piper Equine Hospital. He also provided a comforting presence to students, faculty, and staff at the CVM, as well as FFA campers, clients, and donors, who all spent countless hours grooming, visiting, feeding, and working with Hercules. 

“Herc” had a personality as hefty as his stature. He had his own Facebook page and fan base, painted "Maneighs", dressed up for holidays and events, and even did a few of his own TV/media interviews. In 2016, Hercules was named Minnesota’s Hero Animal of the Year by the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association—the only horse to have won the award in the organization’s history.

He is survived by the students, alumni, faculty, and staff who spent time with him and will never forget his big personality and presence. In particular, he is survived by Sergio Gonzales, the hospital crew supervisor at Leatherdale Equine Center, who cared for Hercules every day for all of his 18 years at the hospital. Gonzales even stopped in on weekends, when he wasn’t scheduled to work, just to check in on Hercules and replenish his food and water. 

“He was an asset in many forms,” Gonzales says. “He was a gentle giant. He was so special to me and I think he was special to many people.”

Photo by Amanda Stombaugh 

Every day for nearly 20 years, when his shift ended at 6pm, Gonzales checked in on Hercules just before leaving. “Sometimes I forget that he is gone and I go to do the same thing,” he says. “When I see that Hercules is not there, that is the part that gets me.” 

Gonzales’ dedication to Hercules helped the duo form a special affinity for one another. “Students and techs will tell stories about how he could be pushy and crabby, but he never did that to me,” he says. “He just wanted treats with me.”

Hercules is also survived by Zach Loppnow, ’17 DVM, who first began working with Hercules as an undergrad at the U of M. As a student at the CVM, Loppnow continued working part time with Hercules, riding and working with him on nights and weekends. Through this practice, Hercules had an outlet in his routine and Loppnow was able to forge a working relationship with the hefty Belgian. 

“The whole experience really taught me patience,” says Loppnow. “If Hercules was frustrated and decided he did not want to do something, it did not do me any good to get impatient or upset because that would only escalate the situation. I learned very early on with him that I had to take baby steps to get things right. And there was no way I was going to get a 2,000 lb animal to do anything he did not want to do.” Now, as an equine veterinarian at Anoka Equine Veterinary Service, Loppnow says this lesson serves him when he is serving clients with particularly stubborn patients. 

“It took trust on both of our parts to really come together and work as a partnership and I think that developed into quite a friendship over the years,” says Loppnow, whose career choice to become an equine veterinarian was cemented after working with Hercules. “I entered vet school as a food animal vet wanting to work on swine and had the side job with Hercules at the equine center. As we worked together, I decided to forego an internship working with swine to stay with Hercules and keep forming that bond. Hercules was the driving force for me to become the equine veterinarian I am today. The relationship I had with him brought me into a field that I found a home in.”

Hercules also lives on in the many horses who benefited from his blood donation. Because of his size, he could donate up to 12 liters of blood at a time to horses who came to the Piper Equine Hospital for surgery or trauma, or needed a blood transfusion for medical reasons. 

For the CVM’s equine veterinary medicine community, the loss of Hercules will be greatly felt for years to come.