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Blogs > bitchkitty2017 > My Blog

The fate of the Sable Island Ponies.  

bitchkitty2017 71F
2245 posts
3/17/2019 10:36 am
The fate of the Sable Island Ponies.
Located about 300 km off the Southeast Coast of Nova Scotia, Sable Island is a 42 km sandbar that has supported a population of feral horses since the 18th century.
Now researchers are conducting necropsies on the Islands unique Feral population .teams of researchers have been travelling to the Island for the past two years trying to find out what has caused the demise of a lot of the horses who have died there recently..The windswept sand covered Island has seen some of the harshest conditions on the Atlantic Ocean..Wildest storms , frigid cold and winds that whip the sand into cutting stinging nettles...yet these horses have survived ..eating little vegetation , surviving on what little grass that grows there and seaweed ..high in iron and essential nutrients..The researchers are finding these horses have slowly been starving to death ..they have done necropsies on 30 out of the 50 carcasses and have found higher than normal parasites, the amount of sand in their food have blocked intestinal tracts, the horses that died were on their last reserve of fats that is essential for protection from the elements..Teeth that is worn down by sand in their diet doesn't allow them to chew their food properly which is a high factor because sand gets in their digestive tract and blocks it and the nutrients aren't getting to where its needed.
Researchers have also found a bacteria which causes strangles , a severe virus that block the airways and respiratory failure is imminent unless treatment is available .also the presence of lungworm compromises the respiratory system. unusual because lungworm is almost always associated with donkeys .Parasite count is very high which means worms of great proportions are present .The sable Island horses have never been exposed to dewormers have had a lot of natural resistance to the parasites..
There is not likely a prominent natural cause of death more so than a combination of several factors which have seen the demise of so many , but given the conditions from which these horses have survived it was bound to happen..As a protected population of feral horses there has to be avenues and mounds of paperwork , special licenses and directives followed for any research or veterinary work to be allowed to be carried out on the horses on Sable Island ..one has to have total respect for their plight and for the conditions in which they have lived for so long.

bitchkitty2017 71F

3/17/2019 10:37 am

 The sable Island ponies plight.


Naughtypursuit 56F  
2766 posts
3/17/2019 11:15 am

 I have always been a big fan of these guys and would love to own some of the art work that has been completed of them but not in my price range. There is a park office there which is manned part time. I would love to work there.


scoupe42 60M
Ask me for a photo

3/17/2019 11:17 am

 Hi my friend, beautiful horses! You always have informative and interesting blogs!


easyrider4008 67M
2562 posts
3/17/2019 11:20 am

 Sad to think that they have survived so long and are now doomed but then if the science is right many more species will follow them shortly and all because of humans, sad.


pb889 39M
Ask me for a photo

3/17/2019 1:54 pm

 Such beautiful horses!


bitchkitty2017 71F

3/17/2019 1:58 pm
    Quoting Naughtypursuit:
    I have always been a big fan of these guys and would love to own some of the art work that has been completed of them but not in my price range. There is a park office there which is manned part time. I would love to work there.
yes I know what you mean I been trying to gather more information on the paintings and see if there is something there within my price range but no go..I was lucky enough to obtain a BLM horse born in Utah had him brought up about 4 years ago but sadly had my accident and had to give up my horses..there are several rescues down in the states that I was looking into ..but the one is exclusive to the area and are not adopted out ...thanks keep on looking something is bound to come along


bitchkitty2017 71F

3/17/2019 2:00 pm
    Quoting scoupe42:
    Hi my friend, beautiful horses! You always have informative and interesting blogs!
lol thanks and your blog post was interesting and I added a comment there which I see you got..keep the vigil...she will come!


bitchkitty2017 71F

3/17/2019 2:05 pm
    Quoting easyrider4008:
    Sad to think that they have survived so long and are now doomed but then if the science is right many more species will follow them shortly and all because of humans, sad.
well they are not down and out yet these ponies are a very hardy breed and like most life on the planet as in these creatures they will come through just natures way of changing things for the better by way of death..the cycle of life for everything has a 7 year turn and at that turn life gives the hardy a chance to regroup but in order to do that they have to evolve or die..its a way of life...we cannot stop it or should we interfere..


bitchkitty2017 71F

3/17/2019 2:07 pm
    Quoting  :
Well Jack I agree but the cycle of life has to happen to all animals on the planet in order for them to evolve and survive making them more hardy than ever..These ponies have a bunch of really caring people who will make the right decisions when the time comes but they will not intervene till its is necessary to do so..thanks Jack


bitchkitty2017 71F

3/17/2019 2:08 pm
    Quoting pb889:
    Such beautiful horses!
they really are and I would give anything to watch them in their own world but regular ppl don't get to travel there and see them...


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