Editing Northern Dancer (section)

==End of life and burial==
{{multiple image|align=right|total_width=320|image1=Northern Dancer grave stone.jpg|image2=Main cemetery at Windfields Farm 1.jpg|footer=Northern Dancer's grave in the main cemetery at Windfields Farm}}

Northern Dancer was retired from stud on April 15, 1987, having started to experience heart problems and arthritis.<!--do we use US or UK dating, given that the horse is Canadian but lived mostly in the US (not to mention his greatest impact on the breed was in the UK)? Article is inconsistent. JJ: try to stick to MDY, although it's very Canadian to use both date systems almost interchangeably :) --> He was pensioned at Windfields Farm in Maryland and when the farm was subsequently sold, a special clause was written to guarantee his lifelong right to live there. On November 15, 1990, at the age of 29, he suffered a severe [[Horse colic|colic]], possibly complicated by a strangulation of his small intestine. Due to his advanced age, it was felt that Northern Dancer would be unable to survive surgery so he was [[Animal euthanasia|euthanized]] on November 16. He was loaded in a specially built oak coffin and then wrapped in a blanket he had won during his racing career. That same day, his remains were brought back to Canada in a refrigerated van for burial at Windfields Farm in Oshawa, Ontario.<ref name=CHoF/><ref name="SunDeath">{{cite web |last1=Peddicord |first1=Ross |title=Right up to coffin, Northern Dancer's life was one of class |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1990/11/19/right-up-to-coffin-northern-dancers-life-was-one-of-class/ |website=tribunedigital-baltimoresun |access-date=8 July 2018 |date=November 19, 1990 |language=en |archive-date=July 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708075424/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1990-11-19/sports/1990323184_1_northern-dancer-stallion-clevenger |url-status=live }}</ref>

Windfields Farm was subsequently sold to the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (now [[Ontario Tech University]]) and [[Durham College]], and Northern Dancer's burial site was not publicly accessible for many years, at one point becoming covered in weeds.<ref>{{cite web|title=Northern Dancer: The Canadian Super Horse that Nobody Wanted|url=http://www.horse-canada.com/horses-and-history/northern-dancer-the-canadian-super-horse-that-nobody-wanted/|website=horse-canada.com|access-date=July 3, 2016|date=July 21, 2014}}</ref> On April 16, 2018, the grave became an official heritage site under the ''[[Ontario Heritage Act]]'', with funds presented by the City of Oshawa to landscape the surrounding area.<ref>{{cite web |title=Northern Dancer: Little horse, big legacy |url=http://oshawaexpress.ca/northern-dancer-little-horse-big-legacy/ |website=The Oshawa Express |access-date=8 July 2018 |language=en-CA |date=18 April 2018}}</ref>