The life of an animal breeder is always rewarding and occasionally challenging. Horse breeders in particular are dealing with a difficult situation with the closing of Etalon Equine Genetics. Etalon had provided genetic testing services that included health, color, and parentage that were important for horse breeders to make good breeding and health care decisions. The closure of Etalon is now forcing horse breeders that had used their services in the past to seek out other options for their breeding programs in the future.
While we are sorry to hear about Etalon’s closure, we at GenSol want to make sure that horse breeders know that we are here to support them moving forward. Although we have been known for many years as a dog genetic testing company, we have more recently added other species including horses to our testing menu. Our menu is currently limited in the number of horse tests we offer, however, we are always looking for current and future customer input on tests they would like us to add to our menu. It is our mission to support all animal breeders with fast, accurate, and affordable genetic testing with some of the best customer support available in the industry!
Currently, some of the tests we offer for horses are (for a complete list including color testing please visit our website):
- Glycogen Branching Enzyme Deficiency (GBED)
- Hereditary Equine Regional Dermal Asthenia (HERDA)
- Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis (HYPP)
- Lethal White Overo (LWO)
- Malignant Hyperthermia (MH)
- Myosin-Heavy Chain Myopathy (MYHM)
- Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (PSSM1)
For horse breeders that are not familiar with our services, we use the same time-proven technologies and innovations for horses that have supported our dog clients over many years. Our laboratory process for horses starts with a unique sampling method new to the horse industry that uses gentle nasal swabbing as opposed to hair bulbs. The traditional source of DNA for horse genetic testing has always been the root bulb of hairs pulled from the tail, mane, or other places on the animal’s body. The hair shafts themselves do not possess enough DNA for testing so if the hair bulb is not properly pulled along with the hair, there is little chance of success for genetic testing. The same DNA in the hair bulb can be found in every cell of an animal’s body which is why we introduced innovative nasal swabbing. This provides a much less invasive and reproducible source of DNA for testing and ultimately less painful for the horse.
Being the first to offer nasal swabbing for sampling combined with the same proven laboratory testing methods developed on dogs makes it easier than ever to test your horse. Tests and panels start at $29.90 with results available 1-2 business days after samples arrive at the lab. We aim to provide breeders with the information they need to make crucial breeding and health care decisions. We know that horse breeding can sometimes be challenging, but we at GenSol are here to support you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions, suggestions, and tests you would like us to offer and together we can focus on the rewards of breeding healthy horses and minimizing the challenges.
