Pony Science - Pindot Cause

Pindot under a microscope - photo by BlackCurtains

Pony Mad Scientist BlackCurtains (who previously linked pony cancer to bacteria) has trained her microscope on another common pony affliction: pindot. Pindot - sometimes also referred to as 'pindot mold,' 'smooze,' or 'ingrained dirt' - appears as a rash of small black dots on the pony's surface, often on the legs and face. It can be very difficult to clean off of a pony, but it is sometimes possible to remove with time and effort (see Rhys' tutorial on pindot removal).

There are two primary theories on the cause of pindot. One is that pindot is a type of mold; the other assumes pindot is simply dirt stuck in the pores of the plastic. In BlackCurtains' studies of afflicted ponies under a microscope, pindot did not appear to be mold:

"Mold has what's called a sporangium. It doesn't look that dissimilar to a flower actually. The individual spores occur in chains and can resemble rod bacteria if they ungroup."

Thus, working under the assumption that pindot is ingrained dirt, BlackCurtains attempted to create pindot on a pony. Using backyard dirt,

"I simply took globs of the stuff and rubbed it onto her legs. I did this everyday for a week. I let the old mud dry on her legs before rubbing more on, so it really got caked in."

After a week the pony was cleaned, and appeared to have pindot. This indicates that ingrained dirt is a cause of pindot. It is fair to assume that it may be the most common cause, as many children played with their ponies in the dirt.

BlackCurtains is also experimenting with growing mold on a pony. It will definitely be very interesting to see the results of that experiment, as many pony afflictions like pindot and pony cancer have long been blamed on mold.