A couple of (potentially silly) DNA test Qs

Cliqmo

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 April 2009
Messages
3,793
Location
North Wilts, UK
Visit site
* Also in Breeding *

Can you use the DNA tests to prove the breed of your horse?

I know the DNA tests are routinely used to prove parentage, but I'm not sure whether they can also be used just to prove a particular breed? :confused:

If they can be used for this purpose, what happens if the horse is of mixed breeding? Could they tell you the mix??

My horses passport states he is Danish WB x Cob (but he came through a horse fair so passport may be dodgy) and two show judges today (one of them judging the Irish Draft class) thought he was purebred ID. I would love to find out for sure, but not sure if it can be done?

Sorry if these are daft questions, I have no idea how refined these tests are :o :)
 
here is the short answer........................... theoretically yes.....................practically no



here is the long answer (well it could be even longer)
technically it would be possible to dna type your pony..............................but first you would have to find orginal dna markers in every breed in the world

and that would be the easy bit, then comes the hard bit ....................if you were trying to work out if a shetland is a pure bred then that is relatively easy....................but as WB are like TB and come from mixed breeding you have to rule out how much of the parently dna comes from its mixed background as in there would be arab specific markers..............................another thing is remember the cost, it is not just your test but all the tests on all the breeds there are in the world also you would have to test more than one from each breed so if you have about 550k but more like a million in the end and the time then you could work out with a percentage of probablility that your horse is a WB cross not and ID

clear as mud ehh :)
 
Last edited:
Top