Horses have been companions of people for thousands of years. Areas in which humans use these animals include, for example, transport, participation in sports competitions, or during rehabilitation (hippotherapy). Unfortunately, injuries such as lower limb fracture very often require euthanasia due to the significant difficulties in conducting fracture therapy/repair. Therefore, there are still many possibilities for the improvement of existing treatments. The aim of the study was to conduct a numerical analysis enabling the prediction of bone union of the third metacarpal bone of a horse. The loading conditions and type of fracture were based on a pony weighing 120 kg; however, research on a live animal was not the purpose of this study. Numerical studies were carried out for three different methods of stabilization using bone plates in the Ansys program (lateral, anterior, and lateral–anterior stabilization). An algorithm based on the Carter model was used to predict bone union, while linear-coupled models were used to describe the behaviour of materials. The authors also performed dynamic analyses in the Abaqus/Explicit program to determine the maximum speed at which the horse could move so that the fracture would not deepen. For dynamic analyses, the authors used nonlinear models—Johnson–Cook in the case of the 316L surgical steel material and cortical bone. Material failure was described using the Johnson–Cook failure model for steel and the limit strain model for cortical bone. A series of numerical simulations allowed to determine the direction of bone union building, and the most favourable case of stabilization was determined.

In this case series, four equines were diagnosed with cystitis, resulting in divergent clinical outcomes. Three animals achieved complete clinical resolution without recurrence, whereas one required euthanasia due to progressive clinical deterioration. All diagnoses were established through a dual-modality investigative protocol comprising cystoscopic evaluation and histopathological examination of bladder mucosal biopsies. The cohort exhibited considerable etiological heterogeneity. One case was classified as chronic idiopathic cystitis, while another was attributed to an opportunistic bacterial infection involving Facklamia spp. A third case demonstrated histopathological features consistent with mild chronic-active inflammation, characterized by mucosal hyperplasia and focal ulceration. Of particular pathological significance was one equine presented with marked epithelial denudation accompanied by pronounced submucosal edema, notably in the absence of appreciable inflammatory cellular infiltration. These characteristic morphological features and lesions observed in the horses share certain histopathological features with inflammatory bladder lesions described as interstitial cystitis in other species. However, these conclusions should be interpreted with caution, as the findings are based on only four horses.