Nina was a Welsh pony. She grew up with her breeder who tried to let the horses grow up as naturally as possible. She turned out to be unsuitable as a broodmare and was therefore sold.

BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS

A few years later she was sold to her last owner. She arrived there with major behavioural issues that the owner tried to manage with her background as a behaviourist.

Nina had an accident where she fell into a ditch. She was lame in the forehand and further examination revealed a subluxation of the sacroiliac joint. This means that the articular surfaces in the pelvis no longer fit together properly, so that she could no longer tilt her pelvis. This could no longer be treated, so it was decided to present her for dissection.

THE DISSECTION

We were told by the owner that Nina had never been able to canter on her right lead. A lightbulb went up for us here, but we could never have imagined what we would find during the dissection.

We typically find small things with every horse we have on the table. Which also makes sense, we humans don’t make it through life unscathed either, and this was also the case with Nina. But in addition, we also came to the conclusion that the joints of the front and hind legs were larger on the left side than on the right side. This made cantering extremely difficult for Nina.

We did our very best to try and figure out what might be causing this. The only explanation we have been able to find so far is that Nina was probably one of a twin pregnancy and one side suffered stunted growth. Of course we can’t be completely sure, but one thing is certain: Nina was a special horse who shared her secrets with us.

Hopefully this case has inspired you and given you new insights so that Nina’s story will not be forgotten. The more horses we can study and compare, the more we learn! Would you like access to more stories like Nina’s? You can find these in the online Equinestudies course ‘The Horse Inside Out’.