Dr Carrie Finno is the lead researcher who worked upon finding the genetic basis to HWSS for us. She also was part of the team which found the genetic cause of HERDA.
This year's James M. Wilson Award was presented to Carrie Finno, DVM,
PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, for her work on neuroaxonal dystrophy (NAD), an
inherited neurologic disease that affects all breeds of horses. The
Wilson Award is given each year to an outstanding equine research
publication authored by a graduate academic student or resident in the
UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Finno received the award for her
publication, "Electrophysiological Studies in American Quarter Horses with Neuroaxonal Dystrophy."
You can read the full article here:
Dr. Carrie Finno Receives 2012 Wilson Award
The Connemara Pony Research Group congratulates Dr Finno on this award. Here is hoping that in 2013 she wins another one for her work on HWSS.
Thank you Dr Carrie Finno for believing we did have an issue with the hooves in our Connemara ponies and then taking on our research project.
The hoof problem previously known as Hoof Wall Separation Syndrome (HWSS) has been renamed as Hoof Wall Separation Disease (HWSD). HWSD is an unique, verifiable and testable disease. It should not be confused with any other hoof pathology. HWSD is a genetic autosomal recessive condition. Two carrier parents being bred with each other results in 1:4 chance of the foal being HWSD afflicted. There is now a commercially available genetic test for the HWSD mutation.