The number of visitors to the blog keep on RISING and are way above expectation

The reaction to the information released through this blog has been dramatic and way more than what the group expected.

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

How HWSS has really affected so many people and their ponies

HWSS was unofficially brought to the attention of  some ICCPS delegates during a break in their technical meeting back in 1998.   Sadly for the breed as a whole and for specific ponies and owners, the information supplied then was not heeded.

Human nature being what it is, people will have wanted to protect their own interests, so the 'don't want to know' attitude is not surprising.

But what have been the true costs?  Consider the following.

HWSS has not been talked about openly - there has been plenty 'talking behind the hand' in some areas BUT for the most part until now, owners and breeders have been on their own dealing with this issue.

OWNER GUILT is one of the prime psycho-social effects of  having to deal with such a problem in isolation.   Up until now there has been no support group to turn to.  The level of denial to there even being a problem is also very high.   Owners feel guilty that something they have or have not done in the care and welfare of their pony (ies) is the cause of this debilitating hoof condition.   The farriers and veterinarians have had no knowledge of the condition and have been treating these ponies for all manner of pathologies - usually White Line Disease (WLD) or fungal and bacterial infections.   All at great cost to the owners and with no or little positive results (thankfully this is now changing with prominent veterinarians, farriers and hoof experts following the progress of this research).

Just think about the effects on such an individual who has bred 4 such ponies and has been struggling on in isolation to do the best for them?   To suddenly be made aware just a matter of weeks ago, that there was research happening this area and that the hypothesis is that it has a genetic basis, was an overwhelming relief for this person.
Actually there are 4 such pony owners - this is not some hypothetical situation - who have come forward in the past month from 3 different countries, and whose ponies have supplied blood samples to the Bannasch Laboratory for the GWAS.   These owners have met all the collection costs and FedEx expenses from their own pockets; the research group and Bannasch are so grateful to them for doing this.

Sadly there is no cure for HWSS; some cases can be 'managed' but some ponies are so severely affected that  the only 'cure' is euthanasia.  Sadly for one of the four people mentioned above this is the outcome for another lovely pony (yes there have been more ponies from the same person who have had to be euthanased on humane grounds, even with the best of care) .   Except that THIS time the owner, the veterinarian and the farrier all had an idea about what they were dealing with.

This pony will add much information to the research project as all four legs (hooves) and other tissues have been sent to UC Davis and are undergoing pathology testing.  The preliminary results confirms that these hooves do NOT  have the pathology seen with 'normal' hoof  structure.

There is a great amount of scuttlebutt presently zipping about the interwebs on HWSS.  The number one take away message is:
This is NOT a curable condition in but some cases it can be managed so well that the pony can live an active and productive life.  


Plus

• The ponies who are being reported, via the scuttlebutt, to have been 'cured' have in fact been euthanased.   
• It is a worldwide problem and definitely not restricted to any one country.   
• It IS more common in some countries and some areas within certain countries.
• Don't point the finger at other people - you too could well have a carrier pony standing in your paddock/barn.  You have either not yet bred it OR have lucked out and 'won' the 50% lottery.   (carriers have a 50% chance of passing the defect on to their offspring - simple Mendelian genetics predicts 1:4 ratios of affected to non affected offspring when two carriers are mated). 

Become part of the SOLUTION.

•  Help with donations to Bannasch.  
• Contact this group if you have an affected pony or have bred an affected pony.   Part of the research involves building family trees.   The database is already large with over 21,000 individual ponies listed from all over the world but more information is required.