A speedy comeback
Olympic eventer and championship dressage rider Ingrid Klimke is eyeing a return to competition a little over a week after surgery on her broken collarbone. The 55-year-old had a fall across country on Equistros Siena Just Do it at Luhmuhlen Horse Trials last Saturday. In an update on 20 June Ingrid said the surgery “went great”. Ingrid and her 2022 World Dressage Championships ride Franziskus are scheduled to compete on the German Nations Cup team at CHIO Aachen, where the dressage competition starts on 28 June. Ingrid said she will sit on Franziskus today (22 June) and “test how it feels”.
How old is “old”?
The age at which a horse is classed as a veteran has been investigated by US researchers. 2,717 completed a survey about their horses’ age and management, with the aim to help improve the overall health and well-being of older horses by understanding owners’ views and experiences. Findings included that 22.8% of participants first considered their horses old at the age of 20. In the UK, a horse can join the Veteran Horse Society from the age of 15.
Read more about this research and what a top rider had to say about her 19-year-old grand prix horse
A donkey whose life was saved by a pacemaker
Miniature donkey Prince Buttons’ life has been saved after a five-hour operation to fit a pacemaker. Prince Buttons was repeatedly staggering and collapsing as his heart was failing, and he is thought to be one of just a handful of donkeys in the world to have been fitted with the device. After observation and testing, Gemma Tyner, who is on Rainbow Equine Hospital’s equine internal medicine specialist team, diagnosed potentially fatal heart condition bradycardia, a very slow and irregular heartbeat. “The pacemaker has been programmed to activate if Buttons’ heart rate drops lower than 30bpm, and it sends an alert if the heart regularly drops below this rate,” Gemma said.
Find out more about Prince Buttons and the procedure
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