DNA My Horse

[Pippity]

Facebook has been bombarding me with adverts for this. Apparently they'll use DNA to identify your horse's breed mix, in the same way Embark does for dogs.

Has anybody used it? Any idea how effective it is?

I'm pretty sure Blue doesn't have a single identifiable breed in her for at least five generations, but, if it's at all reliable, it would be interesting to know!

 

[abbijay]

Following...
I would be very interested to DNA test one of mine. Both mine are fully registered and passported clydesdales but I'd be interested to see if it said that.

 

[DabDab]

Also following, I have always been of the (perhaps unfair) impression that these things must be wildly inaccurate for horses. I could do a control experiment with Arty I suppose, since both parents are old, well-defined breeds (but two different breeds), both extensively papered.

 

[Squeak]

I'd also be interested to know as I've got one with unregistered breeding and I've always been curious. Like the others though I always just assumed it was too unreliable to be worth it.

 

[Widgeon]

Following...
I would be very interested to DNA test one of mine. Both mine are fully registered and passported clydesdales but I'd be interested to see if it said that.

Ooh, you're a perfect control case! @Pippity how much is this test thingy? I would love to see what happened if a bunch of us - some with random-breed mixes, and some with papered purebred - all did it.

 

[DabDab]

People might be interested in the description of the test and potential results on this Web page: https://www.animaldnadiagnostics.co.uk/page/horse-ancestry

 

[Lady Jane]

Go on someone, my horse has breeding unknown in his passport but looks conniex ID and was bred by a connemara breeder in Ireland.

We need some horses whose breeding is absolutely known plus a couple'no idea could be anything'. @abbijay yours would be a good test case and sounds @DabDab would be too? I don't think WBs are a great test case as whilst extensively passported the breeds have been refined over the years with other WB breeds. Breeds isn't even a good expression for WBs

 

[Widgeon]

People might be interested in the description of the test and potential results on this Web page: https://www.animaldnadiagnostics.co.uk/page/horse-ancestry

At least they're upfront about the limitations of the test. I don't think it would work at all on my cob because he's likely to be a mix of native pony, hairy coloured cob, and ISH, the latter two of which are already mixes in themselves.

 

[Pippity]

Ooh, you're a perfect control case! @Pippity how much is this test thingy? I would love to see what happened if a bunch of us - some with random-breed mixes, and some with papered purebred - all did it.

It's currently £53, which is a fair chunk for something that may be useless. Definitely useless if you already know your horse's breeding!

 

[Caol Ila]

I've been curious about Fin. Not all the horses winged onto the Dallas estate were Highlands -- there was Welsh D, an ID, maybe something with Arab in it. I wonder what he's got.

 

[Widgeon]

I've been curious about Fin. Not all the horses winged onto the Dallas estate were Highlands -- there was Welsh D, an ID, maybe something with Arab in it. I wonder what he's got.

I would've thought he'd be quite a good candidate for it - you'd expect to see one of the three breeds as Highland, then the other two might give you some clue as to whether or not he has TB / ID, or Arab blood.

 

[Caol Ila]

The one linked above is £84 a pop. Eek.

The best way to do it, if I had £168 I didn't really want, would be to send samples from both horses in. Use Hermosa as a control because I have 5 generation pedigrees for her; we know what she is.

 

[Wishfilly]

Looking at the list of breeds they test for, it doesn't include Connemara, Irish Draught or Dartmoor pony. I imagine a lot of mixed breed ponies and horses in the UK would have influence from one of those, so I'm not sure how useful or reliable it would be in the UK (even less so in Ireland).

Part of me would be interested to do it for my "no known breeding" pony, but the selection of breeds it tests against seems pretty random and perhaps not super useful in the British Isles?

 

[Pippity]

The one linked above is the one from Texas A&M. The one I started the thread about is http://dnamyhorse.co.uk which apparently has a 'proprietary bio-algorithm' and doesn't tell you what breeds it matches against. Although they do claim that they say more than 'cob'.

They're an American company, despite the name, and their website looks pretty dodgy - the About Us section doesn't exist, eg. However, the V-Bandz website is horribly amateur and 1990s and they're a reputable company, so you can't always rely on website quality as a guide.

I can't help laughing at their American site, where they go into detail about important accreditation is and how their lab is accredited - but then don't say who they're accredited BY.

I'm pretty sure this isn't an outfit I'm going to give my £50 to. Hopefully somebody will come up with a more reliable test at some point. Until then, Blue will remain a Heinz 57.

 

[SEL]

I got gifted one of these and decided to do all 3 horses as a bit of a "control". I was pretty sceptical! They ask for a photo for the certificate and I was careful to send photos that gave no clue as to breed.

So let's start with my Appy. Her dam was imported from France as a meat herd rescue (colt at foot, in foal with mine). Her passport says French Trait du Nord (draft) but she's a snowcap and that's not a colour in the breed. DNA conclusion = English Appaloosa x Brabant. So that's pretty accurate given Trait du Nord is the French version of the Brabant.

Microcob was suspected to be Dales x given the early stamp in her passport. She has come back Cob x Fell. So Fell instead of Dales? But the documents say Dales is the ancestor of the Fell breed so I'm not sure if their DNA records can really tell.

I'm always getting asked if Baby (Turbo) cob has Welsh in him - he has a Welsh brain. But he's all gypsy cob according to his DNA.

I think I was most impressed by the Appy's results really. You couldn't even guess her colour from her headshot and the breeding supported what I knew about her history.

 

[ElleSkywalkingintheair]

I'd love to trust this enough to do it, my two home breds I know the sires breeding but not either dam so would be v interested. How does it work? Hair or blood?

 

[HopOnTrot]

I’m so tempted to do this on my daughter’s generic brown pony with a pet log passport, but then I imagine explaining to my husband why I’ve spent £80 on a horse DNA test

 

[Pippity]

I got gifted one of these and decided to do all 3 horses as a bit of a "control". I was pretty sceptical! They ask for a photo for the certificate and I was careful to send photos that gave no clue as to breed.

So let's start with my Appy. Her dam was imported from France as a meat herd rescue (colt at foot, in foal with mine). Her passport says French Trait du Nord (draft) but she's a snowcap and that's not a colour in the breed. DNA conclusion = English Appaloosa x Brabant. So that's pretty accurate given Trait du Nord is the French version of the Brabant.

Microcob was suspected to be Dales x given the early stamp in her passport. She has come back Cob x Fell. So Fell instead of Dales? But the documents say Dales is the ancestor of the Fell breed so I'm not sure if their DNA records can really tell.

I'm always getting asked if Baby (Turbo) cob has Welsh in him - he has a Welsh brain. But he's all gypsy cob according to his DNA.

I think I was most impressed by the Appy's results really. You couldn't even guess her colour from her headshot and the breeding supported what I knew about her history.

That's really interesting, SEL, thank you! I'm so tempted but I absolutely have better things to spend the money on.

 

[SEL]

That's really interesting, SEL, thank you! I'm so tempted but I absolutely have better things to spend the money on.

It's got really expensive - but they do regular discounts so if anyone is thinking about doing it then wait until it's on offer!

I'd love to trust this enough to do it, my two home breds I know the sires breeding but not either dam so would be v interested. How does it work? Hair or blood?

It's a hair test so pretty easy. I might wait until they've got more in their database though if yours are likely to be UK native breeds. I'm not entirely sure the Fell Vs Dales in my littlest cob is accurate but they're both endangered breeds so I think they'd need more samples.

 

[I'm Dun]

I've been curious about Fin. Not all the horses winged onto the Dallas estate were Highlands -- there was Welsh D, an ID, maybe something with Arab in it. I wonder what he's got.

I'd think theres a little bit of welsh in there. He hasn't got the height for ID, and you'd expect the arab to express itself more. The welsh would make sense and explain some of his quirks as well. Visually he looks very like a highland though and they do vary a bit.

 

[I'm Dun]

It's got really expensive - but they do regular discounts so if anyone is thinking about doing it then wait until it's on offer!


It's a hair test so pretty easy. I might wait until they've got more in their database though if yours are likely to be UK native breeds. I'm not entirely sure the Fell Vs Dales in my littlest cob is accurate but they're both endangered breeds so I think they'd need more samples.

I dunno, she has a very pretty face and without wanting to be mean to dales ponies, they have very "workman like" heads. Plus shes a teeny, which would fit with the fell more. My friend breeds and collects fells and she certainly looks to me like shes a good part fell.

 

[Barklands]

I would be very interested to know if these work too! We have a section A who had what we call an illegitimate child or BOGOF (surprise foal!) when we got her! Obviously we have no idea what the mare’s beau was but could test both and compare to find out! Her mother is typical section A but daughter is more slender and leggier with the bushiest forelock I’ve ever seen (would make me think Shetland if I couldn’t see the rest of her body!!)

 

[SEL]

I dunno, she has a very pretty face and without wanting to be mean to dales ponies, they have very "workman like" heads. Plus shes a teeny, which would fit with the fell more. My friebreeds and collects fells and she certainly looks to me like shes a good part fell.

I parked next to a Dales at the weekend so I know what you mean. She has a tiny face (bridle fitting is a challenge) and I know the stud with the first stamp in her passport did put Exmoor into their breeding herd at one point but I don't think the DNA place would necessarily pick that up. The height has made me wonder too because she's only just 13h and I would expect the cob % to increase rather than shrink the native height gene.

Its a copy passport though so she could have been brought in to the breeding herd rather than being bred there. She was shifted to the dealers after failing to get in foal (except she had ). The BOGOF is definitely more cob in her gene pool

 

[dapple_grey]

I lady from my yard did one but I was very dubious when she said she had to send a photo in with it. Surely someone could have a good guess from the photo? The certificate she received also looked like a child had made it, so I wasn't convinced!

 

[SEL]

I lady from my yard did one but I was very dubious when she said she had to send a photo in with it. Surely someone could have a good guess from the photo? The certificate she received also looked like a child had made it, so I wasn't convinced!

I was cynical too. The person I know who had already done it sent in a full body shot of their horse - I sent in two headshots (Baby Cob could be anything and the Appy just looks roan on her head) and a pretty poor body shot of the microcob. So definitely not driven by the photos.

 

[I'm Dun]

I was cynical too. The person I know who had already done it sent in a full body shot of their horse - I sent in two headshots (Baby Cob could be anything and the Appy just looks roan on her head) and a pretty poor body shot of the microcob. So definitely not driven by the photos.

From your appys head you would never even guess what an enormous big chunk she is, in fact, I think most people would tend to guess more sports horse than anything else, as its rare to see spots in heavy horses.

 

[SEL]

From your appys head you would never even guess what an enormous big chunk she is, in fact, I think most people would tend to guess more sports horse than anything else, as its rare to see spots in heavy horses.

Her head is a lot less draft horse than her shoulders!! I tend to forget how big she is because of the years she spent with a full draft next to her - but now with two cobs she dwarfs them.

Need to get a harness and get her working for a living But yes, seeing Brabant x Appy in the DNA did give me comfort they weren't a scam company.

 

[Greylegs]

I have had my horse tested. I bought her as an ID cross type - probably crossed with a coloured cob - but of unknown breeding: she certainly looks that way from her general conformation and colouring. The test summarised her genetic ancestry as being European Heavy horses, Mountain and Moorland ponies and what they refer to as "Oriental horses" - specifically part welsh D, part gypsy cob, part Fell?? Looking at her, I can see where that comes from so all in all I'm pretty content. It was an interesting exercise and a bit of fun. My other horse is a pedigree animal with an impressively long family tree in his passport, so it might be interesting to have him done as well to see if they get him right.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

My 2 horses, one is now 26 years old & the other is 22 years old & they have had a great life show jumping all over the country. They have been very successful & my family love them dearly. To be honest I don't care what their breeding is, they were good buys many years ago & they will be with us till they die. Both of them still go into the arena at our yard & do pole work & still do a little jumping. Their eyes light up when the come into the arena & see their toys (show jumps) are up in the arenas. They have a wonderful life & we will continue to ensure they have a great life.

 

[Irish-Only]

Irish draughts have to be DNA'd to be registered.