The investigations into the cause of death of Jessica von Bredow-Werndl’s Diallo BB have been completed. After bornavirus and other viral diseases had already been ruled out, it has now been discovered that the gelding suffered a hamorrhagic infarction in the cerebellum and brain stem. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl announced this on her Instagram page, explaining that there is a 1 in 20 million chance of something like this happening.

Hemorrhagic infarction – what is it?

A hemorrhagic infarction in the brain is a stroke resulting from a hemorrhage. Depending on the location and extent of the hemorrhage, it can be accompanied by more or less severe neurological symptoms.

This is actually a rather atypical case in horses, as Dr. Annette Wyrwoll, Chairwoman of the DOKR Eventing Committee and long-standing head of the Neuhof equine practice in Bavaria, confirms. She has never had to deal with this in her decades of work. However, the specialist vet also says: “Only a fraction of dead horses are dissected. If a horse lies dead in the pasture, an aortic rupture is usually suspected.” In other words, there are no exact figures here.

As for the causes of such an event, Dr. Annette Wyrwoll says: “It’s just bad luck!” In humans, infarcts in the brain are caused by tumors, poor nutrition or bad luck. A tumor was not found, and poor nutrition is also ruled out in the herbivore horse.