• Aiken, SC

    info@equus-soma.com

     

  • Equus-Soma

    Equine Osteology & Anatomy Learning Center

     

  • Waldoboro, ME

    207-542-6132

  • Apollo's Story - What Lies Beneath - Final Thoughts (for now!)


              Co-founder of the Learning Center, Diane Dzingle, and I are truly honored and grateful to Apollo's owner Eva McGuire for asking us to retrieve and examine Apollo's skeleton.  At the beginning of this project Eva told me she wanted to know what we discovered but she did not want to see Apollo's bones.  By the time I had them processed enough for an initial examination, Eva changed her mind and came to see him, bravely I might add ... one last time.  When we showed her what we thought were his primary pathologies she became even more resolved to share his story.
             Imagine being in Eva's shoes and making this very difficult decision to tell Apollo's story publicly.  An act that would ultimately put her reputation as a horse owner in question and out there for all the world (of social media) to see and judge!  Yet she found the courage to do so fueled by her love for Apollo, her determination to educate others, and the need to exonerate Apollo from the impression of many that he was simply a "bad" or "naughty" horse.

    "There is no such thing as a "naughty" horse."  ~Pamela Blades Eckelbarger

  •          Although very personal, Eva wanted to share the message she wrote to her veterinarian (below) in hopes that "... maybe someone else who has done this or is facing this will know they are not alone and that they made the right decision".  She wrote:
              "This is so hard for me to do, and my heart hurts, but I have made the decision to put down Apollo.  He is having a hard time, he is flighty, spooky and has been reverting back to his old self.  I feel that we have turned over every stone to find out what ails him and are doing everything to help him feel good and be happy, but last week has not been a good one (see sidebar).  He can never be sold, never be rehomed, because he will end up hurting someone and will get passed along and might end up on a slaughter truck.  I love him too much for that to happen and wish him no harm and I really do believe that letting him go might be the best thing for him.  I have agonized, cried, stressed myself out about this, but I really feel it is the best for everyone, including Apollo."

    ********************************************************************

  • Disclaimer:
               We are not licensed veterinarians and therefore are not attempting to offer a diagnosis as to what ailed Apollo.  While examining his bones we utilized information from peer-reviewed publications and textbooks.  The best we can do is make note of the pathologies found and compare them to what has been previously reported.  The only one with all the answers was Apollo.

  •           The box to the right lists the key anomalies/pathologies we reported finding in Apollo's skeleton along with links to the webpages (aka Parts) describing them.  To keep this synopsis brief, please refer to these links which will also point you to the publications pertinent to each particular issue.

             Our overall assessment is that Apollo's problems began before he was born.  For whatever indeterminable reason, his spinal column did not develop normally at the junction of the lumbar and sacral vertebrae (lumbosacral joint) resulting in the last lumbar vertebra partially fusing to the first sacral vertebra thus forming a transitional lumbosacral vertebra.  Furthermore, this region is also where the sacrum connects to the pelvis to comprise the all important sacroiliac (SI) joint.

             We presume that the physical location of this malformation set the stage for a life of asymmetry  with respect to the morphological development of not only Apollo's skeleton, but likely many of the soft tissues connected to it, i.e. ligaments, tendons, muscles and fascia, as well as neural and vascular structures.

  • "With asymmetric form comes asymmetric function."
    ~ Sharon May-Davis

  •          Furthermore, we strongly suspect that the other osseous pathologies described in this study were compensatory issues likely originating directly or indirectly from the congenital malformation at the lumbosacral junction.
             Consider that Apollo's young body was already compromised when he was started under saddle and began training at the race track. His skeleton was not yet mature meaning that the ossification centers of the long bones and more importantly the vertebrae of the axial skeleton, were still undergoing proliferation and fusion (see Skeletal Development - Two year old) and therefore were highly susceptible to mechanical stresses.

  •          "When there is asymmetry in the body or limbs, there is compensation.
             Where there is compensation there are postural changes.
             Where postural changes exist, locomotion will be affected.
             When locomotion is no longer symmetrical, performance and eventually soundness will suffer."
    ~ Kerry Ridgway, DVM

  •          Although we are beginning to see a paradigm shift with respect to our view of equine behavior, there remains a tendency in the horse community to attribute negative behavior to training issues or to the horse's innate "personality" when in reality we are finding that pain is the catalyst.  As a prey animal, the horse's nervous system is programmed to hide pain as long as possible because horses who show weakness can endanger the whole herd (weakest link) or worse, succumb to predators.
             This means that by the time the horse outwardly exhibits discomfort, irregular gaits, lameness, hypersensitivity to bodily palpation, resistance to moving forward, etc., the issue or issues have begun to override the horse's tolerance to pain.  The negative behaviors that may "suddenly" surface in an otherwise "sweet" horse are a product of the nervous system shifting into survival mode (fight or flight).  This is not conscious behavior, it is reactive behavior.

            Interestingly, one of the most significant outcomes of Eva's desire to share Apollo's story has been the response from so many others who own or know of horse(s) with stories nearly identical to that of Apollo. It's as if a whole "herd" of people has come out of the closet.  They have opened up about their feelings of helplessness, guilt, fear, sadness, etc., and many express enlightenment to know that pain is the rudimentary cause of negative and often dangerous behavior.... and it’s not their horse’s fault.

  • Thank you, Eva!
                 Your goal to share, educate, encourage and console others with stories similar to that of Apollo has come to fruition.  You and Apollo have given horses a voice.

    Now we need to become better listeners.