Of course now the contrary points of view are being aired. This was to expected and is in fact a sign of a healthy community. The major counter argument being offered to this blog and the research group in general is that "we" have now caused 'irreparable damage to the reputation of the Connemara Pony worldwide'.
On the plus side though there has been far more responses along the following lines, than to the negative response like above:
" 'image of the breed be damned' - there are now too many cases where owners who now have or had affected ponies have been put in contact with each other because this group has gone public on the issue.
Their stories are heartbreaking, and typically involve years of frustration, anger, recriminations, and expense; without exception they've been made to feel that the state of their pony's feet is THEIR FAULT.
By going 'public' these people have been able to find that they aren't alone, that its not because of some personal negligence on their part, and that while there may not be a cure, that at least they now have a name to hang the problem on.
By going 'public' there have been many more affected ponies identified. This shows that it is not uncommon, unlike what the breed societies would like everyone to believe. "
ON A MORE POSITIVE NOTE
The group hopes shortly to assemble a document which will be a collection of 'what has helped and what made no difference' for HWSS affected hooves. There is little point in each owner having to re-invent the wheel. Combined knowledge gives strength.
One piece of information which could be very relevant immediately, is that any feed formulations - such as Farrier's Formula, appear to require much longer treatment times than what would be seen in a normal hoof. Also the improvement it will make will be much less than that seen in a normal hoof.
The biotin research conducted on the Lipizzaners of Piber Stud and the Spanish Riding School (Josseck et al 1995) showed that the average response time for any improvement was 33 months. This is way in excess of the time it would take for complete renewal of the hoof wall. These researchers also concluded that there was a genetic component involved in the foot problems seen in this strain of Lipizzans. Another project conducted in the UK (Reilly,) looking at the use of Evening Primrose Oil to improve hoof quality (this time using Irish Draught xbreds) showed a very extended length of time before any positive response was detectable.
Pony feet, the researchers have informed us grow at a slower rate than horses. So one would expect an even slower response rate to feed supplements such as FF and EPO.
None of the HWSS ponies which were put onto feed supplements for hoof health were treated at a clinical level for more than 24 months before the owners were advised to euthanase them so there is no information available as to whether feed supplements do help with modifying the effects of HWSS.
Another idea which has been put forward by a biochemist is that it may be worth looking at utilising the polymers which are UV activated and are used in human medicine and dentistry, as a method of improving the quality of the permeability barrier on the hoof. The fact that these are medical polymers would indicate that they are inert in biological systems.
Hopefully there will be people with such expertise in our readership who may be be able to give an opinion on this matter. email us connemara.pony.research.group@gmail.com if you have any ideas or advice you wish to share.
Thank you
