WARNING: Passport Tampering occurring with Irish Bred HWSD/HWSD affected ponies

 Sadly, it has been brought to the attention of the CPRG that a number of HWSD affected ponies have recently been exported from Ireland to the UK, various Nordic countries and several Continental countries.

Since 2015 there has been NO EXCUSE for any HWSD ponies to have even been born.  Sadly this message does not seem to have been accepted in the biggest Connemara pony breeding country in the world, Ireland.  As HWSD is entirely preventable, then the breeders of such ponies have a moral and ethical responsibility to care for these ponies themselves, not sell them off to dealers and sight unseen to unsuspecting overseas buyers.

Even worse, to just compound the issue some unscrupulous individuals are now passport tampering by removing the back page of the CPBS passport where the HWSD status of the pony is placed.

These recently reported HWSD affected pony's passports have had the back page of their passports deliberately removed.

The back page of the passport of an affected pony should look like this:

There are supposed to be 46 pages in a CPBS passport.

It is not known where this tampering is occurring, as the majority of these ponies have been sold through dealer yards, both in Ireland and in the country of their final destination.  Either way it is inexcusable and ILLEGAL behaviour.   It is bad enough as it is, that the knowledge of HWSD in the general horse owning population, vets and farriers is abysmally low. This passport tampering is a deliberate act to sucker unsuspecting buyers, nothing less, nothing more.

To add insult to injury there is also proof that HWSD affected ponies are being sold from Ireland using 'white' passports.  These are effectively generic travel documents only.  They have no requirement to list breed, breeding or breeder.

If you are looking to purchase a horse or pony listed as 'Connemara Type' make sure that the pony is scanned for more than one microchip.  As there is no central microchip database in Ireland there is no way in which to check for duplicate registrations to one microchip.  It is also really easy to have a 2nd (or even more) microchips inserted, if one is of a mind to do such a thing.

These passport breaches have been reported to the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM) as this department is responsible for administering the issuing of equine passports. 

Irish Equine Law.

 

Want to Know More About Hoof Wall Separation Disease? Listen to the podcast made by Lucinda Kelly of Connemara Pony World.

What's all this fuss with Hoof Wall? 

What is it? 

What should I be doing?

Tune into our new podcast episode                               Link to Podcast

"Getting to the Bottom of HWSD in Connemara Ponies"


In this episode, we cover Hoof Wall Separation Disease, also better known as HWSD. This is a condition that has been identified in Connemara ponies. HWSD is an autosomal recessive disorder that causes the hoof wall to easily break and crack.

  

Joining us on this podcast are the following guests:

1. Sheila Ramsay is from New Zealand and has performed research in Animal Science, Parasitology and Genetics. Her current project is 'Hoof Wall Separation Disease (HWSD) in Connemara Ponies.'

2. Dr. Melissa Cox is based in Germany and specialises in animal genetics, having earned her doctorate in Genetics through the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at Texas A&M University, and has concentrated on comparative genomics with an interest in domestic animals throughout her career.

3. Marian Pritchard is from the UK and is a Connemara enthusiast who bought a Connemara pony from Ireland that she later found out was HWSD/HWSD.

Link to Podcast

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Dr Melissa Cox

Sheila Ramsay

Marian Pritchard riding her Connemara pony who has HWSD. 

Note the hoof boots.

Survey on the Care of HWSD Affected Ponies

Your HWSD experience can help others

We are in the process of bringing all the helpful care information about HWSD one can find on facebook and other sites into one ‘easy to find’ website.

As an owner and carer of an HWSD affected pony, you are an ‘expert’ in the management of your pony. We believe that your ‘on the ground’ knowledge in managing this disease would be invaluable to another person and their pony.

We are asking if you would ‘share’ your experience for others to read. We are also happy to help if English is not your first language.  

Here is the link to the survey:

HWSD Pony Owner's Survey