View Full Version : GHP - Pony with a bad hoof, is she okay?
illabelle
04-30-2017, 18:29
Left front hoof of one of the ponies at Grayson Highlands. Beautiful mare with a young foal. Anybody know what's going on here? Birth defect? Injury? Is she okay?
39195
Hoof needs to be trimmed. They are like toenails. Normally they are worn down. This pony never got her toenails cut. Its treatable.
4eyedbuzzard
04-30-2017, 18:46
No, not okay. Not a birth defect. Ponies/horses in their natural state wear their hooves down because they travel long distances on abrasive surfaces in search of food. The Grayson ponies are overfed and don't travel enough. High sugar diets (from humans giving them treats) and rich pasture can contribute to laminitis, a hoof disease, which can lead to the hoof growth you see here.
http://appvoices.org/2016/12/15/ponies-of-the-grayson-highlands/
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/23523/managing-a-laminitic-ponys-overgrown-hooves
illabelle
04-30-2017, 19:18
No, not okay. Not a birth defect. Ponies/horses in their natural state wear their hooves down because they travel long distances on abrasive surfaces in search of food. The Grayson ponies are overfed and don't travel enough. High sugar diets (from humans giving them treats) and rich pasture can contribute to laminitis, a hoof disease, which can lead to the hoof growth you see here.
http://appvoices.org/2016/12/15/ponies-of-the-grayson-highlands/
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/23523/managing-a-laminitic-ponys-overgrown-hooves
Thank you for those informative links. After reading of the treatment to correct the hooves of the pony in your second link, it seems pretty unlikely that this pony would get any treatment at all, unless it was one trimming. Maybe since only one foot is affected, she'll survive. I fear she'll be culled. :(
I am curious though about your statements about the ponies being overfed, and the implication in the first link that this condition is (or can be) a direct result of ponies eating treats from hikers. The ponies we observed this weekend seemed Hungry. Not in the sense that they were trying to get food from us, but they were constantly grazing. Many areas are ungrazable because of large multi-acre briar patches. The areas that were open were very closely grazed. It appeared that they weren't overfed. But maybe this is typical for spring...?
On the other point, if hiker treats contribute to this condition, it seems like it would be more widespread. Maybe it is, and I just didn't happen to see it.
The only food I saw given to the ponies by hikers this weekend was grass.
Pony Golightly
04-30-2017, 21:10
If its only one hoof, it could just be a terribly untrimmed hoof rather than the result of laminitis. But, I wouldn't be surprised if some of these ponies had Cushing's disease (a metabolic disorder), which can cause recurrent laminitis. I know they do a round up and auction every year and a quick google search tells me the "wilburn ridge pony association" is the group heading this. I found no working website. I know the ones put up for auction are given a veterinary once over, so maybe someone will catch it then. Poor dears. Maybe someone at grayson highland state park would know someone to contact?
Hooves can be trimmed with a sharp knife if the animal is cooperative...a 'wild' pony might not stand still for you though.
Laminitis in wild horses is rarely due to food, overeating, obesity. Most likely caused by an injury.
That hoof could be trimmed and she would be fine. The condition could reoccur easier than a horse that never had it.