If you are interested in having your horse tested for Hydrocephalus (Gene Test) or Dwarfism (Marker Test) please fill out this attached form and send your samples to the FHANA office. In order to have this test run, you must be a current member of FHANA. FHANA will collect the samples and send them over to the KFPS on your behalf to be tested. The fee to have this done is $65. This fee covers the exchange rate from euro to dollars, office/handeling fees, and the shipping fees to send your sample to the KFPS to be tested. This is a temporary solution to the available testing. We hope to continue to work with the University of Kentucky to have this testing completed here in North America.
Hair from the mane or tail must be freshly pulled so that the root bulb remains attached to the hair shaft. It is the root bulb that contains the DNA and not the shaft. A minimum of 25 to 30 root bulbs are required. Hairs can be pulled from over the withers so they are relatively short in length, or if longer hairs are pulled, the hair s hafts can be cut to a length of 3 to 4 inches. Tape hairs containing the root bulbs to an index card labeled with the horse’s name and registration number. Place in an envelope labeled with horses name and registration number. Forward this form and envelope containing the hair sample to: FHANA, 4037 Iron Works Parkway, Suite 160, Lexington, KY 40511-8483.
Marker test and gene test. The test for hydrocephalus is a gene test. That means that the test is based on the mutation which causes the anomaly. A gene test is 100% reliable. The test for dwarfism is a marking test. The mutation for dwarfism has not yet been pinpointed with exact precision. The test focuses on marking genes which are positioned on the DNA in the region of the mutation. In a small number of cases the test will come up with incorrect readings that are either false positive or false negative. Currently, research is ongoing to develop a gene test for the dwarfism disorder. As soon as the gene test will become available all previously tested horses will be tested again free of charge.
Risk mating
The KFPS advises breeders to have all broodmares tested. The resulting outcome should be used to prevent combinations between stallions and mares who are both carrier of these disorders, because these mattings have shown to lead to an anomalous foal in 1 out of 4 cases. With just one of both parents being carrier of either of these disorders the foal will not be affected. From this year on all stallions who are approved will be tested and the outcome will be publicized in the approval report. As long as not all stallions have been tested for carrier status it is important to consult the stallion keeper when choosing a stallion so that a match between two carriers can be avoided. The other option is to consult the KFPS to find out if the intended match of a tested mare is ‘safe’.
Publication
Carrier status of mares will not be publicized on for example the studbook certificate. On "My KFPS" owners will only have access to the outcome of the tests of their own horses.
More news