Swedish young rider Sanna Nilsson's Grand Prix horse Don Dorn has been severaly injured in a paddock accident and is currently standing in the Stromsholm equine clinic with a fractured pelvis or femur.
Bred by Brita Stenpil, the 11-year old Swedish warmblood Don Dorn (by Don Schufro x Democritos) injured himself in a 5 x 5 m paddock. All of a sudden the horse stood on three legs and it was initially thought he had broken his leg.
"It was an extremely comprehensive effort to put a splint on my star's leg," Nilsson explained about shipping her horse to the equine clinic with a suspected broken leg. '"We secured bandages, blankets and pillows and nearly 2-meter woode boards with several rolls of duct tape to get the leg in a firm position. We practically lifted the horse into the truck."
At the equine clinic in Stromsholm veterinarian Staffan Lidbeck X-rayed the leg but there was no fracture to be detected. This shifted the diagnosis to a cracked pelvis or femur. Because the horse's life would be at risk in case of anaesthesia it was decided to put the horse under medication in a sling in preparation of a CT-scan which will take place next week. Don Dorn will probably need to be in the sling for 8 to 10 weeks.
"It has been one of the worst weeks of my life, the sorrow and the pain have been brutal," Nilsson wrote. "I have gone from hope to despair and come across all possible outcomes. I just hope my star is going to be completely healthy so we can take him back home."
Don Dorn has been trained to Grand Prix level by Mattias Jansson. He competed the horse as a youngster at the 2006 World Young Horse Championships in Verden, Germany. In 2010 the pair was seventh at the 2010 Swedish Grand Prix Championships. In 2008 Nilsson acquired the gelding.
Photo © Dirk Caremans
Related Links
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