Parzival - hairline fracture?

[TB_or_not_TB]

So of course we all heard about Parzival’s retiring yesterday mid-test. My first thought was - how odd. I was under the impression that completing for your team, come hell or high water, was drilled into the Europeans. Then I read the spider bite story and thought, “Oh, how nice, she loves her horse so much,” and didn’t give it a further thought really.

Later in the day I saw multiple headlines that Parzival retired due to a hairline fracture. Here is one of the few that is still remaining online: “The Dutch’s Edward Gal holds the No.4 after Addeline Cornelissen and horse Parzival retire due to the horses hairline fracture.” http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/recap-dressage-grand-prix-day-1

“Super odd,” I said to myself, “because I thought it was a spider bite. Did something else happen?” What ever, she did right by her horse. Probably a media mix up, right?

So then someone on my FB shares this article: https://www.facebook.com/notes/chris-anastasy/on-parzivals-behalf/1427693783926472 I am decidedly NOT a conspiracy theory person, but friends… it kind of got to me. Something has been off about the whole thing, and now I have the recollections of warnings about too much curb ringing in my ears from my Pony Club days. I mean, the tongue flapping out was super weird in and of itself. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll get flamed as a pot-stirrer, but what do you all think? Any merit?

[Edited to add that NBC has changed their statement about the retirement to indicate swelling as the reason. Apparently a horse in a different discipline had the hairline fracture, which is the reason that there was conflicting media stories. This makes sense and satisfies the concern and questions I had. I have left the rest of the post and title in tact in case anyone else had similar concerns so they can read the discussion in context.]

[csaper58]

Well hmmm … I would give the vets the benefit of the doubt.

1. Parzival could have been exhibiting the drooling, fever, and swelling,

2. the swelling could have masked/hidden the fracture, leading to the diagnosis that his symptoms were due to the bite or sting of an insect, and possibly infection. (It is Rio, they have some monster bugs, and all sorts of germs.)

3. then, a repeat of x-rays reveal the fracture days later now that it is starting to heal.

I have been told myself to ‘come back in 3 days when the swelling is down’ by a Dr. because x-rays were inconclusive. I was told the callus laid down when a broken bone begins to heal would be more obvious than a fresh hairline fracture.

I can’t imagine the pain the horse was in and I think the spur marks show how much ‘urging’ he needed to perform. As a former groom I can attest to how much riders want their ribbons and medals. Often they want them enough that they overlook blatantly obvious problems with their mounts. Parzival’s ‘lack of enthusiasm’ should have been a red flag that he was not fit to compete.

The rollkur, I can not explain or excuse.

I’m glad he was withdrawn before serious damage to himself or our sport was done and give credit to Addeline Cornnelissen for the courage it must have taken to make the very difficult decision to withdraw.

Jingles that Parzival makes a speedy recovery.

[Bristol_Bay]

I agree the story seemed fishy to me from the start. He looked very lame in the half pass right before she quit.

If he indeed had a fever, why wasn’t he quarantined?

It just doesn’t add up. I wish I could I unsee the images of him with thick foam covering his extended tongue.

[flyracing]

I think NBC is confusing Parzival with the french horse that was recently discovered to have a “hairline fracture” in the hock. NBC posting it would be enough to get the balls rolling on a conspiracy story!

Only problem with the bloggers conclusion about the symptoms of a vertical jaw fracture: those are the symptoms of ventrally displaced and unstable fracture, not a stable fracture. Its a bit of a leap to take the symptoms of a completely different type of fracture and lay that down as evidence. The whole thing is just speculation based on the NBC website.

[rjr]

That article is a total witch-hunt conjecture. I have no idea whether the horse has a hairline fracture or a fever. And it doesn’t really matter. He was in pain and performing poorly in the test, so she retired him. Good for her, and not something that should get the world vilifying Adelinde. After all, everyone knows that Parzival is a 19 year old horse whose performance has been a bit more erratic in the past 2 years than it was in the prime of his career. That is no surprise - that is what happens to horses naturally around age 17. I think it is a testament to good management and training that he even qualified for and attended the Olympics at age 19. It seems that his team thought he would make it through the competition, and did what they could to achieve it. He had good performances and no signs of pain in the qualifiers. I don’t think they did anything wrong. Luck and time just were not on Parzival’s side this time.

So what if it is a stress fracture??? That is the type of injury that any human or equine athlete is prone to when training at their maximum capacity, and especially when above the average age for an athletic sport. If people weren’t on a witch hunt, they would be remarking on the great training and management that allowed the horse to even be a contender at age 19.

The real tragedy here is the social media that is so quick to gossip and denigrate anyone. Thus athletes feel the need to hide and make up stories to avoid being publically chastised before the facts are even known. Through most of this time, it is likely that Adelinde herself has not even been sure what the problem was. How about giving her time to find out before we decide what it is for her???

[mtngirl]

Believe people are confusing two different horses…

The commentators for the Dressage on NBC we’re praising AC for putting her horse first and retiring from the ring when she knew he “wasn’t right”. They then followed up with a story about a different horse/rider at a different competition. The rider sensed something was wrong with her horse and withdrew. No one else saw anything wrong, but a couple of days later when he was 're-examined and xrays taken, a hairline fracture showed up. The horse and rider were not named. It was a discussion between the commentators about looking after the welfare of your horse.

The commentators were not referring to Parzival as having a hairline fracture.

I didn’t see any pictures of his warm up, but agree the tongue hanging out seemed very off…in fact to me, Parzival just looked worn out, no energy. Like he didn’t feel well at all. I’ve had a spider bite that made me quite ill, with lots of swelling and fluid around the bite. It also made my joints ache horribly.That part of the story doesn’t seem far fetched to me. And I even get the idea that IV fluids might help to flush some of the toxins out of the system.

I’m not her biggest fan by any means, but trash talk all you want…the reality is that while she tried to do the ride, she realized it wasn’t going to happen and made the right decision to retire rather than continue.

[2tempe]

I’m going with the vets and thinking NBC Olympics got it wrong.
The excessive foaming and tongue out were really strange, and agree with ^ that he looked done in.
The person who wrote the article in the link clearly has an agenda, so discounting that!

That said, and not wanting to feed any rumors: Some years ago my mare came in from pasture with what appeared to be a bug bite about an inch down from the high point of wither. Two days later withers swollen huge, hot, painful. Vet still thinking reaction to bug bite. Very slow to improve. Finally did xrays and there were chips off the peaks of two wither bones.

[Crockpot]

The horse was not feeling well as AC described.

The noseband was likely looser because of face swelling and pain.
He has always had SIGNIFICANT contact issues so maybe the looser cavesson allowed him to get his tongue over the bit. Possibly.

and he was not feeling well - for reasons explained by AC.

I dont understand all the kudos for doing the right thing.

Good horse owners do that every day whether in the backyard or at the Olympics.

What could she have gained for herself or her country by continuing to compete a horse who was off?

I feel sorry for her but horses are like that- and we have to be responsible to not take advantage of their good nature. I am glad she did the ‘right thing’ but that is expected of all horse owners.

[Velvet]

The only major weirdness about Parzival is the term “toxic” before saying he had a fever. Just weird and super dramatic to me. Maybe it lost something in translation?

[Bristol_Bay]

She would have been rung out in another few seconds, which would have changed the conversation quite a bit. I agree, Crockpot.

[Helicon]

I read some reports that his tongue was hanging out during the jog. Was the jog before or after the spider bite? This pair was once eliminated for blood in the mouth. She was a Sjef student originally, and she has always ridden parcival with a very, very strong contact.

[LilyandBaron]

With all the rumors, it’d be nice if FEI would investigate. Either clear her name, or ban her for life…

[csaper58]

[QUOTE=mtngirl;8793544]
The commentators for the Dressage on NBC we’re praising AC for putting her horse first and retiring from the ring when she knew he “wasn’t right”. They then followed up with a story about a different horse/rider at a different competition. The rider sensed something was wrong with her horse and withdrew. No one else saw anything wrong, but a couple of days later when he was 're-examined and xrays taken, a hairline fracture showed up. The horse and rider were not named. It was a discussion between the commentators about looking after the welfare of your horse.

The commentators were not referring to Parzival as having a hairline fracture.

I didn’t see any pictures of his warm up, but agree the tongue hanging out seemed very off…in fact to me, Parzival just looked worn out, no energy. Like he didn’t feel well at all. I’ve had a spider bite that made me quite ill, with lots of swelling and fluid around the bite. It also made my joints ache horribly.That part of the story doesn’t seem far fetched to me. And I even get the idea that IV fluids might help to flush some of the toxins out of the system.

I’m not her biggest fan by any means, but trash talk all you want…the reality is that while she tried to do the ride, she realized it wasn’t going to happen and made the right decision to retire rather than continue. The way the ride was going, chances are[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the clarifying info. I was responding to the Facebook post by Chris Anastasy, I did not see the actual ride.

There is a photo in that Facebook post of Parzival with an extremely swollen cheek and jaw, that’s why I thought the hairline fracture might have been possible.

[SendenHorse]

Did you guys see the picture? this has nothing to do with RK, poor horse.

Don’t make this into an issue where the story really might be the story. at any rate, the horse is out, case closed.

[csaper58]

[QUOTE=Helicon;8794391]
I read some reports that his tongue was hanging out during the jog. Was the jog before or after the spider bite? This pair was once eliminated for blood in the mouth. She was a Sjef student originally, and she has always ridden parcival with a very, very strong contact.[/QUOTE]

There was a link to a photo of the jog in the Facebook link in the OP. His tongue was out, lots of foam on his mouth.

Saddly the link no longer works.

[suzy]

[QUOTE=Velvet;8793757]
The only major weirdness about Parzival is the term “toxic” before saying he had a fever. Just weird and super dramatic to me. Maybe it lost something in translation?[/QUOTE]

English is not AC’s first language, so I think she meant “toxins” not “toxic” which would be in keeping with a spider bite.

[Equibrit]

It was a Show Jumping horse that had the fracture;
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/simon-delestre-olympic-showjumping-horse-injury-586819

Please don’t play Chinese whispers.

[joiedevie99]

Wow. There is no story here. There is a showjumping horse with a hairline fracture of the hock. NBC obviously mixed them up.

It’s sad that Parzival got a bite/sting, but we all know that some horses have impeccable timing with these things. Toxic could mean there are toxins/venom from a bite, or could be her trying to convey that it was a systemic reaction, not just localized.

It’s unfortunate that the Netherlands had no traveling reserve. If they did, Adelinde would never have gone out to give it a go in the first place.

[keysfins]

[QUOTE=csaper58;8794551]
There was a link to a photo of the jog in the Facebook link in the OP. His tongue was out, lots of foam on his mouth.

Saddly the link no longer works.[/QUOTE]

This?

Photo courtesy of Dressage-News.com

http://www.dressage-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Adelinde-Cornelissen-Parzival-8Y6A1407.jpg

[keysfins]

More still photos here of them in the ring, scroll forward:

Photos courtesy of HippoFoto.Be

http://www.hippofoto.be/portfolio/G0000xEK.G446Keo/I0000ArR6iCzzG5c