A pony with a cart walked over a plank with nails on Saturday afternoon on the heath in the outskirts of Heeze. The planks were probably deliberately placed there to hinder motocross riders, says Jan Snellen from Heese. He is the owner of pony Hummer and discovered the planks on Saturday. He’s furious. “Who’s doing this?”
It concerns two wooden planks with nails in them. According to Jan, he ‘fortunately only suffered two flat tires’.
“The vet and the farrier both looked at the pony. Fortunately, the pony did not run into a nail,” says Jan. “We did see a small point in the hoof. It could possibly become a hoof ulcer – but even then everything will be fine.”
“Nice to go to the woods to relax, I thought.”
Jan is an avid rider and also makes coveted equipment for equestrian sports. He is furious about what happened on Saturday. Because it had to be such a beautiful day. “I looked outside in the morning and thought: the weather is really nice, I’m going out with the pony later.”
The plan was to go to the woods. “I always do that with Hummer. Just to relax. But that went wrong. Right there.” Jan points to a wide sandy path in the distance that lies over a hill.
“I always cross there to the cycle path. Yesterday I saw a trace of a quad that had been tampered with. I thought that was strange, but in the end I just got over it. But yes, once on the cycle path I saw that I had two flat tires.”
It didn’t take long for Jan to find the nail boards. They were a bit buried so they were hard to see. “Whoever did this is doing it to give motocross riders and quad bikes flat tires. They occasionally drive around here and, according to some people, cause a nuisance.”
“That could ultimately be life-threatening.”
Jan doesn’t understand that. “No, because they actually all behave very correctly. They even stop when I pass by with the pony and then turn off the engine. It doesn’t bother me.”
The consequences of such a nail board can be fatal for a pony or horse. “If a horse walks into a nail with its hoof, it can cause a very ugly infection. This can cause a horse to limp. It can even be life-threatening for such an animal.”
Jan calls the situation ‘too crazy for words’. He wants to know ‘at all costs who is responsible for this’. He has to make an effort to contain his anger.
“Fortunately it all ended well now, but I hope I meet the person who did that. Then I think that person will never be able to hammer a nail into anything again. Please take each other and the animals into account,” he concludes.
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The rider has indicated that he will in any case report the incident