The medical findings after a detailed examination at a Belgian clinic were reported Saturday by Sjef Janssen, who has been the trainer of Totilas and his German rider Matthias Alexander Rath.
Totilas was taken to the clinic Friday after he was withdrawn from the European Championships following the Nations Cup Grand Prix when the horse was seen to be irregular.
The German team reviewed a video of the competition and ordered a veterinary examination then withdrew the horse that has sustained injuries throughout the five years since he was bought from the Netherlands.
Sjef said Totilas needs at least four to five months break, and he told a television interviewer that he could not rule out that this could be the end of the horse’s competition career.
Periostitis, according to a veterinarian, is generally chronic and is marked by tenderness and swelling of the bone and aching, sometimes severe, pain. According to vets, it can be caused by excessive physical activity and other factors but did not speculate abut this case.