HERDA

Posted on : November 7, 2018 By
HERDA
Genetic Testing 

HERDA is one of the 5 tests in the 5-panel. It is useful for Quarter Horses, Paints, Appaloosas, Quarter Ponies and any other breeds with some Quarter Horse bloodlines. Horses with two copies of the HERDA gene have extremely fragile skin, particularly along their back. Their skin can rip or tear easily. The large wounds that result from this tearing are painful and like most wounds on horses carry a substantial risk of infection.

Horses with one copy of the HERDA gene (HERDA carriers) are not affected.

The HERDA carriers are most commonly found in cutting horse lines. HERDA also exists outside of the cutting horse population, but is rarer. HERDA can only occur when two carriers are mated to one another. If you have a HERDA carrier it’s easy to avoid having an affected foal: just make sure they only go to horses that have tested clear.

It’s not known whether or not the HERDA and Fragile Foal (FFS) genes interact with one another.

We’ve made even more improvements to our HERDA test. The test now requires even less DNA to give a clear result. To order HERDA testing go to our website at http://practicalhorsegenetics.com.au/index.php?dis=her. Remember to add any other colour gene or disorder tests that you want too!

HERDA in horses
Phenotype of HERDA-affected horses. (A) A 2-year-old HERDA-affected stallion with mild lesions concentrated along the dorsal aspect (white circle), including early indications of loose, sloughing skin (white arrow). (B) Extensible skin in affected tissue can be more easily separated from the underlying fasciae. (C) A large hematoma developed at approximately 1.5 years of age along the left dorsal side of this affected horse. (D) Additional ulcerations and degeneration of the skin as seen on the right dorsal side of the horse shown in C. From: Homozygosity mapping approach identifies a missense mutation in equine cyclophilin B (PPIB) associated with HERDA in the American Quarter Horse
News Reporter