Injuries and blemishes in a semi-feral herd of ponies

All foals were blemish-free at the non-breeding/foaling season inspections (n = 24) and relatively blemish-free (9 of 14) at the breeding/foaling season inspections. The rump and the barrel areas were the most common site of injuries or blemishes, both as a percentage of the total injury count and as a percentage of inspections involving those areas. These findings are consistent with the seasonal and gender patterns of aggressive behavior seen in this herd. Compared with reports of truly feral horse populations, it appears that injuries are fewer and less severe in this semi-feral herd. In addition, there appear to be fewer leg injuries in this semi-feral herd than has been described for truly feral horse populations.