Hello and thanks for your responses. I have a warmblood mare that I am considering breeding next year. Are there any genetic tests that I should have done before I begin the stallion search?
PSSM1 is a definite, as that should remove her from breeding contention forever.
If there’s any chance she is a Frame carrier, test for that. There aren’t a whole lot of lines that carry Frame, and if you don’t have any idea, then it’s a simple test. If it turns out she is, then the stallion MUST be negative
FFS (fragile foal syndrome) - if she’s a carrier, the stallion MUST be negative.
The alternative to testing her for FFS and Frame is to just require the stallion be negative, but not all SOs test for those things, and if she’s negative, it wouldn’t make sense to rule out the ideal stallion just because he’s not tested
I can’t think of any other health-related tests.
That said - what do you mean by “warmblood”? Is she an actual European WB by registry? If she’s a “warmblood” by way of AWR or AWS, then if she’s got any QH or Paint blood then there are more tests that should be done
Thank you JB. She is Registered as an Argentinian Sport Horse but all her breeding is Holsteiner. My thought is that if she is a carrier for Fragile Foal (or any other life limiting condition), I probably won’t breed even to a non-carrier stallion. My human family carries a genetic condition that has made us all hypersensitive when deciding to have a baby. The last thing I want to do is reproduce a horse whose offspring could carry a mutation since I may not be there to oversee future breeding, even though my mare has 100% the best temperament and most talent I’ve seen. I’d take 10000 carbon copies of her if I could!
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ok so no Frame there. If she’s older than, say, 10, and is happy and athletic and all the good things, the odds of having PSSM1 are pretty slim, but it’s a good thing to rule out anyway.
If you plan to breed to a non-WB stallion, there may be other carrier things to rule out from his side, but if he’s “full” WB then FFS for sure, and Frame if you don’t want to produce a filly who carries it.
Thank you! That is great information.
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