Connemara Peeps: Hoof Wall Separation Syndrome aka "Soft Foot"

[mbm]

For those that are not aware, Some strains of Connemara ponies cannot incorporate lipids into their hooves and suffer, sometimes fatal hoof diseases. From pedigree study it seems that it is a recessive genetic disease , so both parents need to be carriers for a foal to be born with this.

Over the years people have worked on this and now UC Davis is doing genetic research on this disease.

UC Davis is looking for donations to help fund the study of this disease.

I am hoping the ACPS will also join in , if they have’t already to help support this cause.

I am posting information below which will help educate - please read this and pass it along.

a face book page for a pony affected here in california.

Rosewood Witchcraft

here is a link to the annual report of region X which discusses the issue

http://www.acps.org/news/news_reg10.htm

more info here

http://nicpba.co.uk/HealthandWelfare.aspx

eta: i am posting this info from a response further down the thread:

If people wish to have their queries dealt with and to gain the correct answers to these queries then I suggest that you contact the research group directly at connemara.pony.research.group@gmail.com instead of dealing in innuendo and conjecture.

[Equilibrium]

Wow! I did not know about this and am going to do some research. And we always joke my TB mare needs to go to a Connie to get rid of the dinner plate feet.

Thank you,

Terri

[mbm]

i forgot to mention these resources as well:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/NZ-Connemara-Pony-Genetic-Improvement-Group/184283314920941?sk=notes

http://pets.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/Connemara_Pony/
on the yahoo group you can search
“soft foot”
or “HWSS”
or “hoof wall separation syndrome”

[Equilibrium]

Thank you. I just find it somewhat concerning that of the groups mentioned to be funding research, Ireland was not mentioned. I’ve never heard of this nor have I heard of anything out of the ordinary with the breed. I’m gonna ask my blacksmith about it next week.

Terri

[Merle]

[QUOTE=mbm;5857050]
From pedigree study it seems that it is a recessive genetic disease , so both parents need to be carriers for a foal to be born with this. [/QUOTE]

Equilibrium, your TB mare would have to be a carrier as well to have a foal with the disease so you’re safe.

Not having done any research/reading but based off the OP’s post, your TB mare would not carry the disease so would be SS, for example (homozygous for NOT carrying the disease). The stallion may be heterozygous (Ss) and have one recessive gene or homozygous for not carrying the disease and have both the dominant type genes just like your mare (SS). Even if you bred to a stallion with the disease, your foal would become a carrier but not be affected (Ss). Anyways, crossbreds are safe!

[Equilibrium]

No I know that, but thank you! It’s just that when you say Connemara you just think of immediately tough hardy horses and really tough feet. That’s what I think of anyway. As in very little matinence horses! Nice if you ask me so it’s kind of strange to hear that they can breed this problem.

Terri

[WindyIsles]

[QUOTE=Equilibrium;5857229]
No I know that, but thank you! It’s just that when you say Connemara you just think of immediately tough hardy horses and really tough feet. That’s what I think of anyway. As in very little matinence horses! Nice if you ask me so it’s kind of strange to hear that they can breed this problem.

Terri[/QUOTE]

Connemaras are known for their good feet and hardiness and by and far they live up to that. This is something that affects a minority of the breed.

I have seen hundreds if not thousands of Connemaras and I have never seen this before in any pony nor in my own stock.

I applaud the work that is being done and hope that I can contribute in some manner to it.

And I know as soon as there is a test developed I will be in line to have my ponies tested and take whatever precautions I may need to in order to not breed an afflicted pony.

[mbm]

good for you Jess.

i do agree that the majority of ponies don’t have this, but it is so heartbreaking to see a pony whose feet literally fall apart and whose future, is one of special shoes, maintenance, etc.

once i saw Crafty, i had to get the word out - one so there is knowledge and two so research can go forward.

[WindyIsles]

[QUOTE=mbm;5857272]
good for you Jess.

i do agree that the majority of ponies don’t have this, but it is so heartbreaking to see a pony whose feet literally fall apart and whose future, is one of special shoes, maintenance, etc.

once i saw Crafty, i had to get the word out - one so there is knowledge and two so research can go forward.[/QUOTE]

I did pass on Crafty’s facebook link/photos to friends of mine who are long-time Irish Connemara breeders (some for generations in a few cases) and none had seen anything like it and were very disturbed by it.

So the word is getting out, slowly but surely and I hope to see the Societies around the world fall into line and support research on it.

It’s another form of grassroots activism - get it out there and keep talking about it and pushing it.

[Equilibrium]

Well I know the guy who I just broke the Connie for would be very interested and would also have his tested. Something like this would break his heart if one of his ponies were afflicted. He’s a cattle farmer by trade and would be very in to keeping genetic defects out of anything.

Terri

[mbm]

Thanks Jess. I know that both Crafty’s owner and I are not very popular right now with certain breeders/PTB … i dont have anything to lose by keeping this in public view, but It has been rough on Crafty’s owner i think.

[connemaranz]

HWSS - one of the researchers responds

Dear People

I am very, very perturbed by the misinformation which is now circulating via the web.

However pure the motives were or are of the person making this initial ‘announcement’, they are in fact undermining the work of the Connemara Pony Research Group. A posting was put onto a private, subscriber yahoo list letting the members of that list where things were with regards to this research and that the call would be going out for funding.

At this stage NO CONNEMARA PONY BREED SOCIETY has been approached by the Research Group asking for funding.
The ICCPS has not been approached for funding.
The funding applied for so far, is from a charitable organisation which funds equine research.
A lot of noise is being made by people who do not have even half of the story and this is making things very difficult for myself and the other researchers.
TWO Breed Societies have pledged funding donations on their own discretion - they have not been asked to do so. Both of these societies are very much minority groups compared to breed societies worldwide.

If people wish to have their queries dealt with and to gain the correct answers to these queries then I suggest that you contact the research group directly at connemara.pony.research.group@gmail.com instead of dealing in innuendo and conjecture.

As for those of you who have not seen the HWSS condition, out of a 1-10 scoring system then 1 = the ‘self trimming’ ponies.
The foot condition can, to a certain extent be masked by environment. If the feet are always wet OR always dry it will not be so evident. Where there is alternating wet and dry then it will become more apparent to the keen observer.

And even if you yourself have never seen HWSS I can assure you that I have seen it in both the UK and Ireland. ‘To a person’ when I queried owners about their pony’s feet it was attributed to ‘the farrier trimmed her feet too short last week’ to ‘well she was kept in really poor conditions - standing in poo/wet bedding/mud and her hooves fell off - but they are getting better now’.
Please note the use of ‘her’ is generic. This problem is not exclusive to mares/fillies but affects gelding/stallions equally.

HWSS was first brought to the attention of the international community at an ICCPS technical meeting in 1999. The meeting chose to ignore the implications of what was being said. The very existence of such a problem was denied by the people at the meeting and the ICCPS committee. Had something been done then, we would not have the size of the problem we now face.
This problem is NOT restricted to one country it is worldwide. This problem is not restricted to one particular bloodline - it has now infiltrated into the majority.

As I said previously you can make enquiries via the email address given: connemara.pony.research.group@gmail.com

Thank You

Sheila Ramsay

[Equilibrium]

Wow Shelia, thank you.

Are you here in Ireland?

Terri

[connemaranz]

New Zealand

Some background info

bred my first connemara xbred in 1989

was responsible for importing the first new blood to this country for 15 years in 2005

director of a company which imports frozen equine semen into NZ.

Have returned to uni as a very mature student and heading to a Master’s with HWSS.

Have attended stallion inspections in Ireland and toured Connemara studs extensively in UK and Ireland during the mid to late 2000’s.

[Equilibrium]

Oh don’t think I was questioning your background, you seem deeply concerned that this has been allowed to continue when it could have been addressed earlier.

It’s just something I thought I might have heard of here. Granted my area is not Connemara’s but usually bad news gets around.

Thanks for your insightfulness.

Terri

[connemaranz]

No worries Terri

Call it a pre-emptive strike.

[goodpony]

Thanks Sheila for clarifying the information-that helps. We’ve been following along since this issue first came to our attention when it was discussed on the International List. It was then that we realized that we had likely already seen the HWSS in the US (that was around 2006–self trimming variety)–though not recognized it for what it was.

Its this part I find most upsetting though:

This problem is NOT restricted to one country it is worldwide. This problem is not restricted to one particular bloodline - it has now infiltrated into the majority.

[mbm]

[QUOTE=connemaranz;5857944]
Dear People

I am very, very perturbed by the misinformation which is now circulating via the web.

However pure the motives were or are of the person making this initial ‘announcement’, they are in fact undermining the work of the Connemara Pony Research Group. A posting was put onto a private, subscriber yahoo list letting the members of that list where things were with regards to this research and that the call would be going out for funding.[/QUOTE]

Hi Shelia -

Thanks for the clarifications!

I am not sure if your comments were directly talking about my post, or the various links i posted in my thread. Just to be clear: everything i posted is on the web for anyone to find.

Not sure if you know this, but the Connemara Yahoo group is NOT private. Every post can be found via search. As an example: The post re: Donations can be found via search and was reported several other places on the net and those can be found via search.

I obviously dont want to do anything to hurt the momentum that is happening, or to post information that is not factual. However, I am not sure how it is possible to keep owners, concerned persons, etc from talking about it? I know for sure that several folks have been directed to the Groups via the facebook page - so i believe that some of the momentum is also due to more people becoming aware which relates directly to some of the posting being done.

Hopefully an “official” website will be created soon so links can be provided as a correct source of information.

Many of us want to be able to help, so please don’t hesitate to reach out if there is something i can do.

as for the comment that it is infiltrated the breed - does this mean it doesn’t go back to just one ancestor?

[WindyIsles]

Thank you Sheila for the clarifications

I appreciate immensely the work you and others are doing on this issue.

[connemaranz]

Hi All

It does appear that this problem goes back to one common ancestor.

There are potential multiple lines of descent all of which can be found in most ponies. At this stage we do not know which ponies have or have not ‘won the 50% get out of gaol free card’ from their ‘considered to be carrier parent’. By the ‘quote’ I mean that a carrier x free progeny has 50% of being free from being a carrier themselves.

I can look at pedigrees and say there are the lines BUT I cannot predict or know which ponies are going to be carriers (until they throw an affected where upon it becomes obvious).

Hope this helps.

Sheila