Sanneke was a Fjord mare, born in 1995. At the age of 5 she came to owners where she could stay for the rest of her life. Sanneke was already started under saddle and in harness. She often went on hacks, did marathons and successfully participated in multi-day events. She also enjoyed children very much. When Sanneke retired we looked into the possibility of donating her for a dissection. This is how she came to Equinestudies.  

In 2019, Sanneke shared her secrets with us during her dissection. Prior to a dissection we do an assessment to be able to prepare for what is to come. For example, we look for visible physical abnormalities or abnormalities in biomechanics. This way we know what to look for during the dissection and what we might encounter. Still, the body can sometimes tell us secrets that cannot be seen from the outside. This was also the case with Sanneke.  

Sanneke had practically been with one owner her whole life. She came to them when she was 5 years old and stayed with them for almost 20 years. During her dissection we noticed that one of her uterine horns was enlarged. Normally we only see this in mares that have had a foal. The side where the foal was is then enlarged. The owner was under the impression that Sanneke had not had any foals, at least not with them! After the dissection, we researched the database of the Fjord Horse Studbook and it showed that Sanneke did have one foal in 1999. This was the year before Sanneke came to her current owners. Sanneke had shared her biggest secret with us.  

Hopefully this case has inspired you and given you new insights so that the story of Sanneke will not be forgotten. The more horses we can study and compare, the more we can learn! Would you like access to Sanneke’s full story? You can find it in the online Equinestudies course ‘The Horse Inside Out’; Click here to go to the webshop.