Swedish event rider Magnus Gallerdal’s 2008 Olympic mount, Keymaster, sustained a hairline fracture of the first phalanx (long pastern bone) of his right foreleg August 11, during the cross-country portion of the Olympic eventing competition in Hong Kong.

Keymaster was transported by equine ambulance to the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s veterinary clinic, where on August 12 Olympic head treating veterinarian Jack Snyder, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, of the United States, performed surgery, said Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) foreign veterinary delegate Leo Jeffcott, MA, BVetMed, PhD, FRCVS, DVSc, VetMedDr, of Australia. As the X ray images show, Snyder inserted four screws during the procedure, which is relatively routine, generally taking only 60 to 90 minutes.

“The good news is that the bone had not displaced,” Jeffcott said, thereby making complications less likely. Although veterinarians cannot predict whether Keymaster will ever return to top-level eventing competition, “pasture soundness,” at the very least, is very likely, he said.

Keymaster was scheduled to recuperate in Hong Kong and then ship home to Sweden with the jumpers, Olympic officials said