A Picture Story of the Hooves of an HWSS Affected Pony

This is the story of a pony in Germany.  This pony although born and reared in Germany has parents which were born and reared in Ireland and is in fact of solely Irish bloodlines.

"My pony came to me in Oct. 2009. Her hoofs naked and bad. I thought with some serious hoofcare it would go better day by day. So I tried hard for 1 year. Than I decided to give her iron shoes. The effect was, that she could go without pain for the first time. The horn growed longer and it looked really nice. See pics from Feb. 2011". 

Even though the pony was shod she still required support of bonding agents around the hoof wall but the hoof does  show a normal form.

The sole.

One shod hoof and the other hoof still to be treated.  The pony was kept pain free with diligent hoof  care.

"In May, at the end of her pregnancy, she was lame on her right front-hoof. Shoe away and we looked for an abscess. Not  one found. Bandage (see pic.). 

"This got lost and so the wall :(."

The unprotected hoof (not shod and bandage lost) disintegrated virtually overnight and this is the result.  Notice that the disintegration is between the layers of the hoof wall, not between the hoof wall and the underlying laminae as would be seen in White Line Disease.

The sole picture also shows that the breakdown is between the layers of the hoof wall and not in the white line.

Shoes and casting materials back in place. May 2011.

Then just 5 days ago (Feb 2012),  the weather changed from a period of heavy dry frost (-10--20C) to +2C and wet conditions.   A series of large chips broke and peeled from this hoof.  If you look closely you can clearly see the hoof tubules within the layers of the hoof wall.

The owner decided that something useful should come from yet another setback with the pony's feet and has photographed the hoof pieces from all angles and referenced them to a measuring tape.  The pieces have been labelled and stored in the correct manner in the owner's household freezer; just waiting for someone to take on further research on the biochemistry of these abnormal hooves.

This pony foaled in May a colt (now gelded)  His feet are absolutely normal.  This pony has sire siblings which also have HWSS.   Remember  the dam of this pony and other other affected ponies ALSO has to be a carrier; one cannot 'just' implicate the 'stallion lines' with this condition.

Thank you to this pony's owner for allowing the research group to use these photos and tell his and the pony's story.