The world's number one dressage horse, Adelinde Cornelissen's Parzival, is back home in Nijkerk, The Netherlands recovering from an operation to cure the 16-year old Dutch warmblood gelding from arrhythmia.
Two weeks ago Dutch team veterinarian Jan Greven diagnosed the chestnut gelding with arrhythmia after the horse showed condition problems in his work. The horse was transported to the universitary equine clinic near Ghent, Belgium, where Dr. Gunther van Loon operated on him.
To cure atrial fibrillation Parzival underwent electric shock therapy being completely anaesthetized on the operating table. Dr. Van Loon commented that the operation was a success, but the horse needs to be closely monitored the next few months.
"After an operation like this, you have to allow for some time to recover. So he will have to take it easy for a while. It is also not impossible that it happens again. Normally the rehab time is close to two months, but that is of course not the same for every horse," Van Loon told Horses.nl.
Photo © Astrid Appels
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