Whisper was born in 2004 and was bred to practice dressage. It was a KWPN gelding who has not had an easy life. Whisper lived with his breeder for the first 11 years of his life. In May 2015 it was bought as a rehabilitation project. Whisper was in bad shape at the time.
During the rehabilitation process, Whisper showed progress little by little. Unfortunately, this changed due to an accident that happened when he once ran loose in the box. He fell on his back, resulting in lameness in three legs. The vet noted lameness in his right forefoot and a fracture of his stylus bone. In December 2018, a crookedness in the pelvis was discovered. The training was resumed in January 2019, but after some buckling on the lunge line, the entire pelvic area was under pressure again. In March, the owner signed him up for a motion analysis that yielded many answers. He didn’t move straight at all and every step was off balance. So all his limbs moved abnormally. As he did not get better and continued to resist any form of training, it was decided to donate him for a dissection.
Through the dissection, we examined Whisper’s body. Things that we could see or feel on the outside fell into place when the horse was ‘on the table’. The findings show that his behavior later in life did not just appear out of the blue. A lot of damage has been discovered that can be related to the trap Whisper made at the gate. It is important to keep in mind that after a fall, however small, damage could occur that you have to take into account in the training. Even if the horse isn’t lame, there could be more going on than you think. Sometimes the tissue is damaged that you cannot see on the outside and a horse needs more recovery time than we think.
Hopefully this case has inspired you and given you new insights so that Whisper’s story will not be forgotten. The more horses we can view and compare, the more we learn! Do you want access to the complete story of Whisper? You can find these in the online course of Equine Studies ‘The Horse Inside Out’. Here you will see images of his life, an assessment of his physical problems and unique footage that we found during the dissection. Click here to go to the website.
