If you are purchasing ANY horse or pony from Ireland - CAVEAT EMPTOR

Various Genetics laboratories that routinely test for HWSD often notify the Connemara Pony Research Group of any new developments that they see as the result of their work. 

Back in 2019 the linked report was sent to DAFM in Ireland. Link is here: 2019 DAFM report.  In the conclusion the following statement was made:

The potential economic impact of HWSD on the greater Irish horse industry in general does not appear tohave been considered. The provenance of ponies/horses being exported on white passports willincreasingly be questioned as more HWSD carrier or affected animals are sold overseas. The equinecommunity at large and the authorities (DAFM, IHB) need to consider the effects of the HWSD mutationmoving into the wider genetic base of the Irish Sport Horse industry. The potential economic impact of HWSD on the greater Irish horse industry in general does not appear tohave been considered. The provenance of ponies/horses being exported on white passports willincreasingly be questioned as more HWSD carrier or affected animals are sold overseas. The equinecommunity at large and the authorities (DAFM, IHB) need to consider the effects of the HWSD mutationmoving into the wider genetic base of the Irish Sport Horse industry.
"The potential economic impact of HWSD on the greater Irish Horse Industry in general does not appear to have been considered.   The provenance of ponies/horses being exported on 'white passports' will increasingly be questioned as more HWSD carrier or affected animals are sold overseas.   The equine community at large and the authorities (DAFM, IHB) need to consider the effects of the HWSD mutation moving into the wider genetic base of the Irish Sport Horse Industry'.

What was forecast in 2019 has come to pass.  An 'Irish Cob' passported by the PIO Leisure Horse Ireland has been tested and found to be affected HWSD/HWSD.   This cob was exported from Ireland to the continent; the usual pattern of hoof disintegration occurred and on advice from a equine professional, a hair sample was sent to the laboratory for testing.

It is obvious therefore that the mutation is now circulating in the wider equine population in Ireland.   

As an example, one of the most prolific 'not-tested' but known to be N/HWSD stallions, (Ross Fear Bui) has  been extensively used and continues to be used for sport horse/pony breeding. As other 'not-tested' and known to be N/HWSD stallions are also being used outside of the Connemara breed.  This raises the concern as to how extensive the mutation in the wider population is likely to be.

It would appear that none of the concerns raised in the 2019 report were considered to be important as none of them have been addressed.

TAKE HOME NOTE:   DO NOT BUY ANY HORSE OR PONY FROM IRELAND WITHOUT FIRST KNOWING THE HWSD STATUS OF THAT HORSE/PONY

Those who fail to heed history are doomed to repeat it.

It is surprising what one finds when clearing out a cupboard.

This 1993 magazine contains a comprehensive article about the research involved into HYPP, you can read this article in pdf format here for easier reading. One of the relevant issues to the HWSS research, and addressed in this article is that the HYPP research took seven years before before the cause of the HYPP mutation was made public.  

The HWSS research will be public inside three years from the commencement of the initial GWAS.

Further reading about the HYPP research from the same issue of the Equus magazine is available at Unmasking-the-Fatal-Flaw

Many of the issues facing the Quarter Horse breed in 1993 with regards to HYPP are also relevant to the present situation being faced by the Connemara pony with HWSS.  The AQHA has a less than sterling reputation over how they have addressed the HYPP issue.  

Just like with HYPP, the drive to solve the HWSS problem has been driven from the grass roots.  

The AQHA was slow to address the HYPP issue.  In 2014  HYPP is still a problem in the QH breed. 

The CPBS and the ICCPS seem intent on repeating the history of the AQHA over the HYPP issue. 

The CPBS and the ICCPS still do not acknowledge the existence of HWSS.

The CPBS and the ICCPS did not even bother to reply to letters sent by the Connemara Pony Research Group inviting them to be associated with the presentation by Dr Carrie Finno. 

Many owners of HWSS ponies will identify with the following:

"Owners: Grief and Anger.

For those who own a horse affected with HYPP the flow of information is far too slow.  Man veterinarians still do not know a hyperkalaemic episode when they see one, they say, and aren't sure what to do even if they recognise the signs.  Misdiagnoses, such as tying up or colic, are still common place according to several owners and trainers, and horses are suffering as a result." (Equus,185, March 1993, page 50).

Substitute HWSS for HYPP and tying up and colic to White Line disease and fungal infections!  

The research group has been very open with the progress of the research since the beginning of the work.

Connemara pony owners and breeders, farriers and veterinary professionals are invited to the HWSS presentation by Dr Finno at Clifden is on the 19 August 2014. 

If you wish to secure a seat at this presentation make a minimum donation of  6.00Euro per seat required.   Seating is limited by venue size. How to make a donation and secure your seat is at Donation instructions

Genetic Conditions and Responsible Reactions to Them

Other breeds of horses and ponies have genetic issues which they have addressed.  These have been mentioned in prior blogs.

HYPP    -    Quarter Horses and derivatives from the 'Impressive' line

HERDA -     Appaloosa and derivatives from Poco Bueno

SCID
CA        -      Arabs
Lavender Foal

OLWS     -    mainly Paints and Pintos

FIS        -      Fell and Dales ponies

Friesian Horses - Multiple issues

However horse breeders are not alone in dealing with such issues; all other species have their own problems. It is how these problems are dealt with by the 'custodians' of the breed/s which separates the 'men from the boys'.

Open acknowledgement that a problem exists is the first requirement.

Informed decision making is the second.

Acting upon the informed decision made, is the third.

The following post and illustration is about Dairy Cattle.  For those who take the time to read this you will find it very informative and helpful as it is very relevant to the HWSS issue.  

LIC (short for Livestock Improvement Corporation) is an international artificial breeding company which supplies and trades frozen bull semen throughout the world.  They are an industry leader in the area of genetic research in dairy cattle.

LIC is a player in the dairy industry in Ireland supplying semen and expertise to farmers in this country.  This small calf syndrome 'problem' will be present in Ireland.  

"The average herd of 400 cows could expect to have 60 cows which are carriers.  If this herd was mated to a cross-section of Holstein Friesian bulls in New Zealand, LIC expects one to two calves would result. 

Putting this into perspective, since the 1960's a quarter of one percent (0.25%) of calves bred from Holstein Friesian or crossbred type animals each season are likely to have been affected by the Small Calf Syndrome."

Present research would suggest that in some countries, HWSS has a similar if not higher level of carriers, in the population as a direct result of the overuse of certain sires, to the level seen for small calf syndrome in Holstein-Freisian cattle and their cross-breds.

 LIC discovers small calf gene : the full text for the graphic below.

News from the Bannasch Laboratory

A message from the lovely people of the Bannasch Laboratory at U C Davis arrived today. 

"The Connemara community has been incredibly supportive, and I know you have worked extraordinarily hard at getting DNA to the lab. Your efforts and the generosity of many owners has been very effective, and we are no longer in need of control samples." 

This is a real kudos to the people who got in behind this project, both with donations to fund the work, and those who at their own expense, rallied to the call and submitted blood samples from their ponies. The research has come such a long way in a very short space of time (from the scientific research perspective). This would never have happened so quickly without you all.

Please note that samples from additional confirmed HWSS affected ponies will still be accepted.  

To anyone who wishes to send blood samples from outside of the USA from affected ponies, you are asked to wait until further notice whilst the import permits are renewed. Once the permits have come through, a notice to this effect will be posted on the blog.

Once again, thank you to all of the people who have made this research a 'happening thing'.

New Update - some good, some sad.

Sadly another pony has had to be euthanased because of intractable hoof pain from HWSS.  This pony was bred in Connemara, purchased at Clifden and exported to Sweden.   All four legs from this much loved pony have been sent to the Farrier School in Sweden for research and teaching purposes.  She was one of the ponies whose blood sample was sent over for the part of the research which proved that HWSS is indeed genetic in origin.

It is coming up to the time of the Pony Inspections in Ireland, where in the past much purchasing of Connemara Ponies has been the norm. The genetic test for HWSS will not be available before the end of the northern summer, so any pony buyers will still need to use visual criteria to assess whether a pony is HWSS affected or not; there is no way of physically assessing carrier status.

So here are a few suggestions for onsite assessment:

• Only consider young stock and/or breeding ponies presented without shoes and without hoof black. 
• Be extremely wary of ponies which are shod and not in work.
• Do not accept any reasons/excuses about the farrier 'trimming the feet too short the last time he/she was out'.  Feet that are too short is a 'red flag'.
• Any chipping or peeling away of the outer hoof wall is a red flag.
• Pick up the feet yourself and have a look at the structure of the hoof wall between the white line and the outer hoof wall (see photo below).
• Look at the environment the ponies are living in. Boggy conditions masks the issue.
• Hoof black can be used to hide the use of hoof fillers - shod and hoof blacked 'red flag'.

For those purchasing from a distance (ie not personal inspection or through an agent) ask for not only conformation photos and videos, but close up pictures of feet - unshod and not blacked, and taken with the pony standing on concrete.

Here is a picture which demonstrates that the splitting occurs within in the structures of the hoof wall and not at the white line.  This photograph comes from a Swedish HWSS site with many good quality photographs of HWSS feet.  Even with short and newly trimmed feet (a prime method used to attempt to disguise HWSS), any sign of fissures should be classed as a 'red flag'.  Normal feet do not do this.

Other news is that the final shipment of blood samples for HWSS research  has been dispatched from Germany.  A total of 184 ponies have contributed to the population study part of the research.  Well done Germany for have such pro-active breeders and pony owners.  In addition to the samples from the Connemara ponies, samples were included  from Highland ponies and Haflinger horses which demonstrate a similar hoof phenotype to that seen and known to be HWSS in Connemara ponies.  The farriers in Germany are to be commended for making the connection with the HWSS they are dealing with in Connemara ponies owned by their clients, and notifying the German research group representative about these other suspicious hooves.  Thanks must also go to the owners of these non Connemara ponies for being so willing to send samples to UC Davis.   

IF these breeds do show up as being HWSS affected it is the hope of the research group, that their relevant breed societies will be pro-active in dealing with the issues and not emulate the 'head in the sand' attitude which has been the predominant response from the Connemara breed 'authorities' with which the research group has to date met with.

One shipment of samples from Ulster has just safely  arrived at the laboratory for the population study.  30 ponies from a wide variety of bloodlines, one of which is a Scottish bred pony.  This shipment is the only one which has been sent from anywhere in Ireland.  Thank you to this pony owner for making the effort and shouldering the cost all on your own; this is appreciated by the researchers.

How to Make a Donation to Support HWSS Research

Readers of this blog will already know that the Bannasch Laboratory at UC Davis has already commenced the SNP arrays to find the genetic mutation which causes HWSS.     This is but the first stage in the process required to develop a diagnostic test for HWSS.

The array has for the most part, been financed from private donations.  There has been a small funding grant received but this was not as much money as what had already been received from donors.   To carry on with the second stage of the research a further $US5000 is needed.
The research group has had many requests asking what is the best method to donate funds.
The Centre for Equine Health (which the Bannasch Laboratory is part of) has the giving page.



One of the research group members tried the system out, and it works.
UC Davis donation page

On the above page you will see a link to a secure page.  Follow this link and you will see the following:

You need to specify where the money is to go:

CONNEMARA DNA RESEARCH

and the person who is to be notified that a donation has been made:
DR CARRIE FINNO


The information above needs goes in the boxes on the far left of this screen (sorry cannot put arrows in to show you where).
The long thin field is where the Connemara DNA Research Fund goes.
The smaller box below: Dr Carrie Finno.















If credit card transfers are not your preferred method to make a donation  then you can send a cheque to the Center for Equine Health, One Shields Ave, Davis, Ca 95616. 
Send a letter accompanying the cheque stating that the donation should be directed to Connemara DNA research.


THANK YOU.

Exciting Exciting NEWS. SNP Arrays to commence

Today I have received confirmation that there has been sufficient donations received by the Centre for Equine Health (UC Davis) (CEH) combined with a small grant, that the first stage of the Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) is ready to start at the Bannasch Laboratory.
This is such exciting news that we have progressed so far, so quickly.
From the researchers at Bannasch Lab I received this today:

"We are still interested in donations for the 2nd stage of the project (either SNP genotyping additional samples or sequencing a candidate gene/region).
I am waiting on 9 more unaffected distantly related control samples to come in this week and then we plan to send out the DNA. We should have the results before the holidays and some preliminary information by the end of the year."

The next stage of the project requires $5000.

The research group has no idea who has donated money via CEH for this work to commence so promptly, but we thank you from the bottom of our collective hearts.

For those of you who wish to know more and to understand what is about to happen


The whole process involves looking for areas on a gene (or genes) which are different from what the reference genotype shows.   There are breed differences so that it why the genome of non-related ponies are needed to compare the genes of the affected ponies too.  In other words there can be specific genes which are not on the reference (library copy) of the horse genome, but which are in fact totally normal in another breed.

Because we already know what the problem is at a functional level, then the genes influencing lipid metabolism in hoof (keratin) structure is a an area for possible candidate gene(s) or a region within one of the keratin coding genes.