Horse Genetics Resources
Homozygous, along with her friend heterozygous, are (as far as I can tell) jargon developed purely with the aim of making genetics seem hard. Let explain what homozygous means for mammals – that includes us and all our hairy companions. Homozygous: both…
Not all foals get a name as soon as they pop out. To keep their paperwork clear and unambiguous we recommend referring to un-named foals in the following way: Mare’s name-year-sex For example if your mare Caramel Kisses has a colt this…
I love seeing all the ideas that come in for our mystery coloured horses! This time most of you went the same way as me and thought it might be some sort of splashed white gene. It’s not! This stallion is Coralvale…
This year has seen FFS or fragile foal syndrome get a lot of attention in the Warmblood community around the world. However as we learn more about this disorder it’s become clear that FFS is not just in Warmbloods. There are many…
This one is a common question: buckskin or not? This filly’s coat varies from season to season. We’ve tested her for agouti, red/black, cream and dun/d1 (nd1) to find out. Responses on this one were roughly equal for buckskin vs. not buckskin….
We have an answer! Zeus is actually chestnut, not taffy (silver) at all. He also has two copies of d1 (nd1). Overall, we tested Zeus for agouti, red/black, silver, cream, dun/d1 and W20. The agouti and red/black tests were to find out…
What is fragile foal syndrome? Fragile foal syndrome (FFS) is a severe inherited disorder that has been found in a number of horse breeds. It is most commonly found in Warmbloods and is often known as Warmblood fragile foal syndrome. Foals with…
Zeus (a very handsome fellow!) is a brumby passively culled from the herds in the Kosciuszko National Park. He’s our next horse in the mystery colour program. What colour do you think he is? What colour genes should we test him for?…
We are nearly ready to offer testing for Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome. WFFS is a bit like HERDA, but in Warmbloods: it is a defect in the skin means that it is weak and easily torn. Skin on the legs is most…
Connemara Hoof Wall Separation Disease is an inherited disorder where affected ponies have their hoof wall easily break away from the underlying tissue. In severe cases they end up walking on their soles. It’s an autosomal recessive disease, meaning that it can…