So on Tumblr some of my followers caught wind that I headcanon the equine in MLP as omnivorous and more predatory than their real life counterparts, and a lot of questions popped up about it. It eventually led me to rethinking bits of the anatomy of the pony to better fit that headcanon, sooooooooooooooo…. here it is. A pony with toed hooves. Better yet, I'll call them…

Pony paws. xD

I didn’t think it’d work as well as it actually did, but then again, a species of horse once existed that had a similar hoof design, so maybe that’s why? Regardless, here ya go: my newest headcanon on the anatomy of ponies, specifically their front hooves!

As a quick recap, in my headcanon the equine of the MLP world (which I call Gaia) are all omnivorous and predatory in one way or another. In the case of Equestrian Ponies, they were pack hunters and traveled in herds for not only protection and companionship, but also to work together to take down their chosen prey. As such, their front hooves are "toed", or have more than one digit, and look more like paws.

They have four digits on each front foot: 3 toes with large hoof-like nails, and a flexible dew claw with a long spear-like claw, which allows the pony better grip on whatever it’s grabbing at. This trait has also helped when they evolved, allowing them to manipulate tools and items with relative ease.

I kinda forgot how fun it was to headcanon like this. :3 Even still I might scrap this later, but we'll see! And the pony I used as an example? They're made up; I've been callin' them Lucky. :3

If ya’ll have any questions feel free to ask!