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Post by lucynlizzysmum on Aug 22, 2014 6:15:35 GMT
Some of you may remember a thread last year regarding what to feed a conni with very poor feet. It turned out our boy had HWSD and we sadly lost him in April of this year. I am pleased to say that there is now a test for this so hopefully breeders will test their stock and not run the risk of breeding two carriers so this can be bred out !
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Post by comanchediva on Aug 22, 2014 21:18:43 GMT
I have just seen the research surrounding this syndrome and cannot begin to imagine what you and your boy went through.
Hopefully the test will allow breeders to make informed choices when deciding on stallion/ mare pairings in a similar way to that which the FIS test has with Fell pony breeders x
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Post by 09rebel99 on Aug 22, 2014 22:46:08 GMT
What's hwsd if you don't mind me asking?
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Post by comanchediva on Aug 23, 2014 5:05:08 GMT
What's hwsd if you don't mind me asking? Hoof Wall Separation Disease, found in Connies. There's now a test to find if the pony is a carrier so breeders can be (more) selective in pairings and breed foals which won't have the disease. Similar to FIS in Fell s where two parent carriers are likely to have a foal which will have FIS and die within a few weeks of birth. It'll never disappear as the gene pool is too small not to breed from ponies who are carriers but by breeding from say one carrier and one clear pony the foal may be a carrier but won't have HWSD. That's how I've understood things from a brief search last night after reading lucynlizzysmum' s post x
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Post by lucynlizzysmum on Aug 23, 2014 6:20:25 GMT
That's it in a nutshell comanchediva. There are different levels of affected ness as well. The best way of describing it is almost like split ends in hair, but the classic thing with it is that feeding for he foot does not improve it at all. Some are born so badly affected that they are put down before 6 months. But others seem to worsen as they grow older (our boy). Management will be the key in those slightly affected, but as the foot breaks down you cannot shoe so the animal walks on its soles. You can glue shoe (which is what we did) but that helps to dry the hoof out thus exacerbating the condition. For Ralph leaving him barefoot was not an option. Heartbreaking to have to put a young horse down, totally disheartening and debilitating to owner, vet and farrier as whatever we tried didn't work:-( I don't blame anyone for the condition, a quirk of nature, but am so delighted that breeders will now be able to test and not breed carrier to carrier. Or breed from affected ponies!!
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Post by 09rebel99 on Aug 23, 2014 6:53:14 GMT
Thanks for the explanation guys. Sorry that you lost your pony. Sounds like it was a very distressing situation for everyone.
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Post by lucynlizzysmum on Aug 23, 2014 6:57:11 GMT
Thanks for the explanation guys. Sorry that you lost your pony. Sounds like it was a very distressing situation for everyone. Thank you, it was :-(
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Post by Louise Dixon on Aug 24, 2014 8:47:41 GMT
Very sorry to hear you've lost your pony. Thank you for sharing the information, I had not heard of this before.
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sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
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Post by sarahp on Aug 24, 2014 16:21:23 GMT
So pleased to hear there is now a test. Now all that needs to happen is publicity to all breeders and lots of testing.
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