Horse

Find out more about parentage checks and why they are needed

Parentage check/DNA profile

• 850 SEK per sample (incl. VAT)

Copies, complements, incorrectly mounted samples etc

• 250 SEK (incl. VAT)

Ordering sampling material

Instructions

Ordering sampling material

Instructions

We perform genetic tests for the following diseases:

All prices incl. VAT

FFS  (Fragile Foal Syndrome) - 825 SEK

Skeletal Atavism™ (Crooked test) - 1500 SEK

Skeletal Atavism™ (Crooked test), combined with parentage control - 2000 SEK

SCID-test  - 825 SEK

CA-test - 825 SEK

SCID- och CA-test, combined with parentage control- 1125 SEK

OLWS (OveroLethal White Syndrome) - 825 SEK

Myotoni - 825 SEK

HWSD (Hoof wall separation disease) - 825 SEK

PSSM 1 (Polysaccharide storage myopathy) - 825 SEK

MCOA (Multiple Congenital Ocular Anomalies) - 825 SEK

The following tests include a referral fee

HYPP (Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis) - 1125 SEK - Quarter/Quarter-mix

LFS (Lavender Foal Syndrome ) - 1125 SEK - Arabian horse/Arabian horse-mix

Completions - 250 SEK 

SCID and CA tests are only performed together with identity or parentage checks.
Contact the laboratory if unlisted tests are required.

WFFS (Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome)

WFFS is an autosomal recessive disease. Two copies of the mutation are needed to cause the disorder. Carriers do not show any symptoms. In foals with WFFS, clinical symptoms are seen such as extremely fragile skin that breaks apart, hypermobility and edema. Foal with WFFS dies or will have to be euthanized shortly after birth. Affected fetuses may be resorbed or aborted at an earlier stage. The WFFS mutation is prevalent in most warm-blooded breeds and has also been reported in other breeds such as English thoroughbred and Knabstruper. Similar symptoms have also been recorded in other breeds but are likely due to mutations in other genes affecting the formation of connective tissue.

Skeletal Atavism™ (SA)

Skeletal Atavism affects Shetland ponies and American Miniature horses. Two copies of the mutation are needed to cause the disorder. Carriers do not show any symptoms. Affected foals are born with severe angle anomalies and deformation of both front and hind limbs. The misalignments are usually so severe that the foal will have to be euthanized.

Researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Uppsala University, together with three foreign research groups, have developed a genetic test that can help breeders identify carriers and thus prevent the birth of malformed foals. This DNA test is now available to anyone who wants to test their horses.

SCID (Severe Combined Immunodeficiency)

SCID is an autosomal recessive disease affecting Arabian horses. Affected foals are born without a functioning immune system and consequently die at an early age due to infections, usually within 4-6 months. Two copies of the mutation are needed to cause the disease. Carriers do not show any symptoms.

CA (Equine Cerebellar Abiotrophy)

CA is an autosomal recessive disease that mainly affects Arabian horses. It is a neurological disease that causes the death of neurons in the cerebellum. The foals appear normal at birth, but develop symptoms such as head shaking and balance disorders. There is currently no cure for the disease. Two copies of the mutation are needed to cause the disease. Carriers do not show any symptoms.

OLWS (Overo Lethal White Syndrome)

OLWS is an autosomal recessive genetic defect associated with the coat color frame-overo but has also been found in tobiano/overos and some solid-colored horses. Affected foals appear to be perfectly normal, but with a white or almost white hair coat color and blue eyes. However, they have a dysfunctional colon and show signs of colic only a few hours after birth. The foals will die within a few days, but as the disease is very painful, they are euthanized as soon as they have been diagnosed. Two copies of the mutation are needed to cause the disease. Carriers do not show any symptoms.

Myotonia (Congenital myotonia)

Congenital myotonia is an autosomal recessive disease affecting the New Forest pony. Two copies of the mutation are needed to cause the disorder. Carriers do not show any symptoms. The disorder is characterized by involuntary muscular contractions and decreased power of relaxation.

HWSD (Hoof Wall Separation Disease)

HWSD is an autosomal recessive defect affecting the Connemara pony. Two copies of the mutation are needed to cause the disorder. Carriers do not show any symptoms. Affected foals are born with a weakened hoof wall that will easily crack and break away. There is no cure and the disease often cause severe pain.

PSSM1 (Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy)

PSSM1 is an autosomal dominant muscle disease affecting multiple breeds. Due to an abnormal glycogen storage in the muscles, affected horses exhibit symptoms such as cross paralysis, movement disorders, muscle stiffness and sweating. Horses with one copy of the mutation (heterozygous) may show symptoms of disease and horses with two copies may be more severely affected. 

MCOA (Multiple Congenital Ocular Anomalies)/Silver dilute

The eye disorder MCOA is associated to the silver dilute coat color. Horses with one copy (heterozygous) of the mutation tend to show a milder form of the disorder, while horses with two copies (homozygous) are worse affected with severe visual impairment or blindness. The mutation causes black pigment to dilute but has no effect on red pigment.

HYPP (Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis)

Hypp is a muscular disease with dominant inheritance affecting Quarter horses. Horses with HYPP are hypersensitive to potassium. If the potassium levels in the blood become too high, the horse may exhibit symptoms such as cramps and paralysis which can lead to cardiac arrest. Heterozygous horses (one copy) are affected by the disease but homozygous (two copies) horses are more severely affected.

LFS (Lavender Foal Syndrome)

LFS is an autosomal recessive disease affecting Arabian horses. Two copies of the mutation are needed to cause the disorder. Carriers do not show any symptoms. Foals with LFS are born weak, with difficulty getting up and exhibit spasmodic seizures where legs, neck and back are stretched. They typically have a diluted coat color. There is no cure for the disease and affected foals will have to be euthanized.

Horse colors are influenced by several hereditary factors. Genetically, all horses are basically black or red (fux). The brown color is created when a genetic modifier, the agouti gene, acts on the black color. All other colors are created by additional genes acting on these basic colors. The majority of horse colors can be determined by the phenotype (appearance), but sometimes genetic tests can help to define difficult-to-interpret colors or to find out possible colors of the horse's offspring.

We perform the following tests:

All prices including VAT

Instructions

Ordering sampling material

Chestnut/black - 575 SEK

Agouti - 575 SEK

Yellow - 575 SEK

Combined color test horse; Agouti, Chestnut and Yellow - 1150 SEK

Champagne - 575 SEK

Black - 575 SEK

Silver - see MCOA under disease tests.

Roan - 825 SEK - several breeds.

The following tests include a referral fee.

Tobiano - 825 SEK - several breeds

Splashed white - 825 SEK - several breeds  

Roan - 1125 SEK - several breeds. Marker test. NOTE for roan test required:
- Hair sample from the horse and hair sample from at least one parent
- Color photo of the horse
- Parantage in three generations with color and characters indicated

Mushroom – 825 SEK - Shetland pony 

Chestnut/black (E)

The chestnut color is characterized by the total absence of black hairs and only red pigment can be formed. The trait is recessive and the horse must carry two alleles (ee) of the gene to become fux (red foundation color). Black horses must carry at least one copy of the dominant E allele. A horse carrying two copies of the E allele can never produce fux offspring, regardless of the color of the partner. However, a horse that is heterozygous (Ee) can produce chestnut offspring. Two chestnuts (ee) mated together will always produce chestnut-colored offspring.

Agouti (A)

The Agouti gene controls the distribution of black pigment. The dominant allele A restricts the black pigment to the mane, tail, lower legs and ear tips. This causes the underlying red pigment to appear on the bocy and creates the color brown. The recessive allele a distributes the black color evenly over the horse's top of the head. For a horse to be black, it must be homozygous for both the a allele and a carrier of the E allele (see chestnut/black).

Yellow (Cr)

The yellow trait bleaches red pigment, while it has less effect on black pigment. The “bleaching” is more visible on the mane and tail. Therefore, one copy of the allele, Cr, bleaches a chestnut horse to sable, a brown horse to bay and a black horse to yellow-black. Two copies of the allele (Cr/Cr) bleach both red and black pigment and the horse becomes blue-eyed cream (BEC). These horses pass on the yellow trait to all their offspring.

Silver (Z)

The silver trait is dominant and bleaches black pigment, but has no effect on red pigment. A chestnut horse can therefore carry the silver trait without it being visible. A silver-black horse will be chocolate-colored, often apple-caste, with a white mane and tail. A silver-brown horse will be reddish chestnut and have gray legs with a grayish colored mane and tail. Silver-brown horses are sometimes mistaken for dark chestnuts and were called leather chestnuts. The color can also be combined with any other color, but the horse will usually have a silver mane and tail. The silver trait is linked to the hereditary eye disease MCOA (Multiple Congenital Ocular Anomalies). Horses homozygous for the trait are at risk of severe visual impairment or blindness.

Tobiano

The pinto color is determined by mutations in a number of genes and results in coat varieties such as tobiano, overo, sabino, belly coat and large white markings. The tobiano pinto (To) is dominant and is characterized by clearly defined large white or coloured fields and white legs. The skin is pink under the white coat. As the trait is dominant, a homozygous tobiano coat colored horse (To/To) will always produce tobiano coat colored offspring.

Splashed white

The pinto color is determined by mutations in a number of genes and results in coat varieties such as tobiano, overo, sabino, belly coat and large white markings. Splashed white is a dominant trait that is often characterized by closed, high socks, belly patch and in some cases blue eyes. However, phenotypic expression varies greatly as different combinations of peritoneal genes and other genes give different degrees of “whiteness”. Some gene combinations can be lethal and horses with splashed white are sometimes deaf.

Roan

A roan is spiky-haired but retains most of its primary color on its head, legs and tail. As the color changes in appearance between winter and summer, they are sometimes called color changers. The trait follows dominant inheritance but the causative mutation has not yet been found and the test is a marker test.

NOTE: Required for a roan test:
- Hair sample from the horse and hair sample from at least one parent
- Color photo of the horse
- Parantage in three generations with color and characters indicated

Grey (G)

The gray (G) trait is dominant and causes progressive depigmentation of the hairline. Horses carrying the gene are usually completely white by the age of 6-8 years. The trait acts on all colors and horses homozygous for the gene will only be able to produce grey offspring. A horse that is heterozygous for the gene is grey but does not always produce grey offspring. A grey horse always has at least one parent with the same color. Alleles: G1 - not grey, G2 -gene duplication, two tandem copies of the duplicated sequence that causes grey. The G2 allele is associated with slow fading and low incidence of melanoma, G3 - gene triplication, three tandem copies of the sequence that causes grey. The G3 allele is associated with rapid fading and high incidence of melanoma.
In some cases, it is not possible to distinguish between horses with genotype G2/G2 and G1/G3, these are reported as “G2/G2 or G1/G3 (= grey. Not possible to distinguish genotype).” If only one parent is a grey, only the G1/G3 genotype is possible.

Read more (sv): 

https://hastsverige.se/news/forskning-genvariant-forklarar-hur-snabbt-en-skimmel-ljusnar-om-hasten-riskerar-att-utveckla-melanom/


Referenser:
Rosengren-Pielberg G, et al. En cis-verkande reglerande mutation orsakar för tidig hårgråning och mottaglighet för melanom hos häst. Nat Genet. 2008 40(8): 1004-9
Rubin, CJ., Hodge, M., Naboulsi, R. et al. An intronic copy number variation in Syntaxin 17 determines speed of greying and melanoma incidence in Grey horses. Nat Commun. 2024 15, 7510

Champagne (Ch)

The champagne trait is dominant and bleaches both black and red pigment, even with just one copy of the trait. A brown horse will bleach to amber champagne, a black horse to classic champagne and a chestnut to gold champagne.

A horse with a double champagne Parantage passes on the color to all its offspring.
Champagne is found in the Quarter horse, Tenessee Walking horse, American Saddlebred, Missouri Fox Trotter, American Miniature horse and others.

Reference:
Cook, D., Brooks, S., Bellone, R., & Bailey, E. (2008). Missense Mutation in Exon 2 of SLC36A1 Responsible for Champagne Dilution in Horses. PLoS Genetics, 4(9):e1000195. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000195

The SynchroGait DNA test is based on a scientific study in which researchers from SLU and Uppsala University, among others, have identified a gene variant that has a major impact on horses' movement patterns and coordination ability. The test can be used to predict the conditions for fast trotting in warmblood and coldblood trotters. The same test can also be used in Icelandic horses, where it provides information on whether the horse has the genetic potential to become a four- or five-walker.

Genotype trotting horses
AA – Optimal conditions for synchronized trotting at high speed. Natural talent and early horses.
CA – Not optimal conditions. Gives 50% AA offspring if crossed with AA.
CC – Not optimal conditions. Can never produce an AA offspring.

Genotype Icelandic horses
AA – Five-walker. Has the potential for a flying pass. Only produces quintuplets when crossed with an AA.
CA – Probably quadrupeds. Can produce both quadruped and pentapod offspring.
CC – Quadrupeds/Trebuchers. Most difficult to put in tölt.

As a member of ASVT or Sleipner you get a 5% discount on the test. To get the discount, write your membership number in the “other” box on the order form.

Test Synchrogait ®

• 3625 SEK (incl. VAT)
• Incl identity check

Instructions

Ordering sampling material