# Broken crest?



## malinda

If you've ever wondered what a broken crest looks like...


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## arabian knight

And that comes from over feeding, because that is where the fat is stored.
yikes what a site.


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## malinda

I've been meaning to get pics of these donks for years, and finally yesterday remembered to bring my camera! They have been this fat for a long, long time (it's been almost 10 years that I've been trimming them) and the owners WILL NOT put them on a diet!!


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## southerngurl

Man what a shame.


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## Lisa in WA

My friend has a shetland with a broken crest but it happened before she got him. Amazingly he never foundered. Luckily, his huge blonde mane covers it and you'd never know unless you dig your fingers in. It was the first time I'd seen one.


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## DixyDoodle

I'm under the impression that once they get cresty neck, it's there for life, too. 

Now THOSE pics were a great (horrible) example of cresty neck! Holy.


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## madness

Gives you a real good visual of "crest fallen"...poor donks.


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## Terry W

what kind of strain does that put on the cervical vertebrae and connective tissues? are these guys minis?


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## MikesMate

Wow, what a neck...but the feet look good.


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## Minelson

Yeah...at least they are taking care of the feet. Poor little munchkin. I have never seen that before. Yikes!


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## beccachow

What am I looking at exactly...is that like the fat pulling the skin to the side of the neck?


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## CheerfulMom4

Man I've seen some cresty donkeys but never like this! You know what I find weird about this. It's that usually when I've seen donkeys like this they are just poorly taken care of all the way around. These donkey seem well loved since you've been trimming them for so long. The owners must mean well by them yet they keep overfeeding them. Weird....


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## DixyDoodle

I heard that once a cresty neck, always a cresty neck, but has anyone ever seen one get at least a bit better? I wonder if a proper diet might at least make it less obvious? Or would the weight loss make it flop more? Although this these pics, I doubt that would get better. Holy.

I almost bought a donkey for change a while ago that had a somewhat cresty neck (owner changed their mind about selling, argh, gotta love that). I felt he was a goner in terms of looks, but the poor thing.  It would be awfully hard to find a home for an animal like that. 

You see quite a few cresty-necks in donkeys in my area at the auctions.


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## Lisa in WA

DixyDoodle said:


> I heard that once a cresty neck, always a cresty neck, but has anyone ever seen one get at least a bit better? I wonder if a proper diet might at least make it less obvious? Or would the weight loss make it flop more? Although this these pics, I doubt that would get better. Holy.
> 
> I almost bought a donkey for change a while ago that had a somewhat cresty neck (owner changed their mind about selling, argh, gotta love that). I felt he was a goner in terms of looks, but the poor thing.  It would be awfully hard to find a home for an animal like that.
> 
> You see quite a few cresty-necks in donkeys in my area at the auctions.


A cresty neck doesn't necessarily mean the crest is broken and a cresty neck can become less cresty with losing weight. A broken crest happens when the crest is too heavy for the supporting tissue and breaks over to the side. It s permanant from everything I've heard and seen.


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## malinda

These donks are being killed with kindness. Like I've said, I've been trimming them for almost 10 years - every eight weeks. They get dewormed every time I visit, are kept in a very well maintained and safe fence, and are otherwise well taken care of.

Besides a diet and excersize, these donks really would need liposuction and reconstructive surgery to ever look normal again! I keep trying to tell the owners that donkeys can survive on very little food, and they did cut back on the amount of grain they were feeding, but they are still allowed free range of a large pasture.


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## Maura

I have two mini donkeys. They are very thrifty and gain weight if they are not worked. Mine do not get grain except as bribes and you can see a bit of a roll on their necks.


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## DixyDoodle

Ooops, sorry, I meant broken crest.


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