Maybe it’s less dramatic than what it looks like.
 
Maybe Jinx is from some rural backwater (even worse than Ponyville) and had some kind of accident, perhaps tree bucking related or something. Her folks were able to bandage her, but for some reason, she couldn’t use her hind legs, and a ready-made, standard wheelchair was unavailable. So one was built from whatever was lying around.
 
Add to this Jinx’ stubbornness. She’s an earth pony. She’s tough. She doesn’t need to be hauled to a doctor or a hospital. She can go there herself. That, or nopony was available to take her to medical care. Yeah, chances are she built that wheelchair herself.

@Background Pony #5740  
Even though you are reading too much into this considering it’s a kids show, I was thinking the same things as I observed her. It just feels weird how some episode’s have all sorts of modern equipment while the majority of the ponies don’t seem to own any such devices.
 
Imagining a disabled pony having to build her own wheelchair is heart-wrenching as fuck.

She reminds me of someone I know…

She reminds me of Sakuya Izayoi..

But still, it should have two smaller wheels for stability otherwise it could topple if she loses her balance. She could still use her front legs
 
Also the Ponyville hospital looks sophisticated enough to have wheelchairs

@Nicolas Cage #5740
 
“Am I reading too much into this? Just looking at her makes me depressed now.”
 
Perhaps maybe. I noticed how shoddy it was too. I figured she went with the back legs only design because she wanted to walk instead of wheel, her Cutie Mark is a shoe after all.
 
In a sad world it is because she is poor, in a less sad world it is because no one is selling chairs like this meaning she had to make her own.
 
Anyway, it looks kinda sad but cute.

Also it’s kind of a terrifying indicator of poverty when patients have to build their own medical equipment. Like it looks like she had a serious head wound, and broke both of her legs, and yet she’s sitting in a wheelchair that is not only homemade, but dangerous because it has no front wheels. We know that there’s a modern hospital in Ponyville that she’s probably heard of, so the most likely reason that she wasn’t treated there would be because she couldn’t afford it. So perhaps Equestria doesn’t have free healthcare.
 
Also this pony’s life was probably depressing as hell. She suffered some kind of horrifying injury, keeping her from doing any work if she’s a farm pony, which she looks to be given her color scheme, cutie mark and race. She was already too poor to afford proper medical care, and now since she can’t work she can’t earn any money. So she goes to this Tonic demonstration in the desperate hope that it could provide a low cost cure to her ailments, is given great hope by Granny Smith’s demonstrations and trusts Applejack’s word completely, and then that hope is promptly destroyed when she finds out that the tonic was BS, and the pony that she trusted completely lied to her to boot.
 
Am I reading too much into this? Just looking at her makes me depressed now.
 
Also it makes me oddly happy, because she’s absolutely goddamn adorable, and I have a spontaneous compunction to feed her carrots out of my hand. Please name her something good.

My vote’s for Jinx/tough break. I still like the idea of a broken horseshoe cutie mark.
 
Seems like she had a talent related to kicking things, maybe that’s how she got injured.

@PonyPon  
I think Jinx could actually be a fitting name

she probably paralyzed.

@Background Pony #46E2  
I suppose so.

@ALIS  
Dash works for the city on the weather team, gets a good insurance package.

>>531238
 
Looking at Rainbow Dash’s sleek wheelchair she got a ghetto version. I wonder if she made it herself?

@Background Pony #277F  
i vote for jinx!  
she gets into all kinds of bad luck but always survives.

@Background Pony #277F  
Yay!

we can name her Jinxie

@Joshua  
She may be a sole survivor of a major disaster, if that isn’t lucky I don’t know what is.

@PonyPon
 
@Psychopomf
 

 
Cutie mark and name headcanon ACCEPTED

Is she Paralyzed?

@PonyPon
 
Jinx could work. I was almost tempted for ‘Tough Break’ too.

@Psychopomf  
I’m tempted to say the part we can’t see is broken, and her talent is having bad luck.
 
Then we can name her Jinx or (Bad) Juju.

“Since her cutie mark is a horseshoe, she’s one of the luckiest ponies ever.”
 
 
……….LIES!!!!!!!! She’s unlucky!

Hrm. I’d call her something based on her injuries but should probably go by the cutie mark.
 
Just looks like a horseshoe though.