Horse Genetics Resources
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?…
Naked foal syndrome (NFS) is a fatal inherited disorder that has been found in pure and part-bred Akhal Teke horses. Foals with NFS are born without hair, and may have other physical abnormalities too. All NFS-affected horses recorded so far have died…
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…
We have one last example of a SB1 + W20 horse to share. This is Zips Stormy Showdown, a Paint horse colt. Zips Stormy Showdown is a chestnut with both sabino 1 and W20, but no other known pattern genes. Just like…
Our big research project this year is to find the genes responsible for the horse blood groups. Horse blood group systems are more complex than the common human blood group system ABO and Rh. Their blood group systems are called A, C,…
We’ve already shown you one example of how much white you can get when a foal inherits a copy of sabino 1 from one parent, and a copy of W20 from the other. Here is our next example: Tahmathor Park Colonial Jasper….