Pregnant Mini Horse?

[Bunnylady]

Congrats on a live birth. Not meaning to cast aspersions on anyone or anything, but the pictures make it appear that the foal has a bulging forehead and lax tendons at birth (assuming the first pic was taken shortly after birth). That being the case, I feel duty-bound to ask - have the foal and her mother been tested for dwarfism genes? Animals with two dwarf genes require very special care and should never be bred; since some combinations are always lethal or result in severe deformities, which (if any) of the dwarfing genes a miniature horse possesses should always be factored into any breeding decision.

 

[stm_96]

Congrats on a live birth. Not meaning to cast aspersions on anyone or anything, but the pictures make it appear that the foal has a bulging forehead and lax tendons at birth (assuming the first pic was taken shortly after birth). That being the case, I feel duty-bound to ask - have the foal and her mother been tested for dwarfism genes? Animals with two dwarf genes require very special care and should never be bred; since some combinations are always lethal or result in severe deformities, which (if any) of the dwarfing genes a miniature horse possesses should always be factored into any breeding decision.

I don't think they have been tested for anything like that. The first picture was taken a couple hours after she was born, the second pictures she was exactly one month old to the day. The vet came out for him to check out mom a few weeks ago and made the comment that she was small for a one month old but said her and mom looked good. Didn't say anything else. I know the woman we got our mare from had a dwarf born last year from a different mare. So I'm guessing if she or does have the dwarf gene it would have come from the daddy. But the vet didn't seem concerned when he was here.

 

[stm_96]

Also, i won't be breeding any of mares. I have 2 mares and filly. We bought momma while she was pregnant early on, this was her last foal. And i have no desire to breed any of them. They weren't bought to breed or show. They were bought as a birthday present for my 6 year old to love and enjoy.

 

[Bunnylady]

So I'm guessing if she or does have the dwarf gene it would have come from the daddy.

Dwarfism in Miniature horses is a complicated matter, usually involving several different mutations of the same gene (known as D1, D2, D3 and D4). A horse has to inherit defective copies from both parents to be a dwarf. If this baby was sired by the stallion that also sired the dwarf foal, you know the stud has one of the above (almost certainly not D1, since it seems that when D1 is combined with anything other than the normal form of the gene (N), it results in early-term death of the fetus). If your foal is indeed a dwarf, she got one defective gene (probably D2 or D3) from her sire, but she had to get one of the D's from her mother, too, which is why I asked if she had been tested.

There are many degrees of dwarfism. In the worst cases, the foals are so deformed that, even if they survive being born, they usually get put down for humane reasons. The least affected may just be rather awkward and dumpy looking, but tooth problems and leg/hoof problems can make them high-maintenance (to say nothing of the digestive issues that can crop up). An underbite is one of the most common issues seen in all types of dwarfs. Some dwarf foals are born with an underbite, in others, it develops as they grow. Severely misaligned jaws can make eating difficult to impossible, but even a slight misalignment means teeth that don't wear properly, and it will take frequent floating to make sure the animal can make the best use of its food.

The fact that the vet didn't say anything specific about dwarfism may not mean anything. Unless he has a particular interest in miniature horses, he may not know much about dwarf minis.

 

[stm_96]

Dwarfism in Miniature horses is a complicated matter, usually involving several different mutations of the same gene (known as D1, D2, D3 and D4). A horse has to inherit defective copies from both parents to be a dwarf. If this baby was sired by the stallion that also sired the dwarf foal, you know the stud has one of the above (almost certainly not D1, since it seems that when D1 is combined with anything other than the normal form of the gene (N), it results in early-term death of the fetus). If your foal is indeed a dwarf, she got one defective gene (probably D2 or D3) from her sire, but she had to get one of the D's from her mother, too, which is why I asked if she had been tested.

There are many degrees of dwarfism. In the worst cases, the foals are so deformed that, even if they survive being born, they usually get put down for humane reasons. The least affected may just be rather awkward and dumpy looking, but tooth problems and leg/hoof problems can make them high-maintenance (to say nothing of the digestive issues that can crop up). An underbite is one of the most common issues seen in all types of dwarfs. Some dwarf foals are born with an underbite, in others, it develops as they grow. Severely misaligned jaws can make eating difficult to impossible, but even a slight misalignment means teeth that don't wear properly, and it will take frequent floating to make sure the animal can make the best use of its food.

The fact that the vet didn't say anything specific about dwarfism may not mean anything. Unless he has a particular interest in miniature horses, he may not know much about dwarf minis.

Very good information to know! I'm gonna be looking into this! I figured she was smaller because her dad was shorter, our mare is about 33 inches, and I'm not 100% sure on his height but i do remember him being a good bit shorter than the rest of the mares.

 

[CJLR]

Congrats on a live birth. Not meaning to cast aspersions on anyone or anything, but the pictures make it appear that the foal has a bulging forehead and lax tendons at birth (assuming the first pic was taken shortly after birth). That being the case, I feel duty-bound to ask - have the foal and her mother been tested for dwarfism genes? Animals with two dwarf genes require very special care and should never be bred; since some combinations are always lethal or result in severe deformities, which (if any) of the dwarfing genes a miniature horse possesses should always be factored into any breeding decision.

it also looks like it may have a slight leg deformity

 

[stm_96]

it also looks like it may have a slight leg deformity

The vet said she looked good.

 

[CJLR]

The vet said she looked good.

ok good
It could have just looked like it in the first picture

 

[CJLR]

ok good
It could have just looked like it in the first picture

if a vet says she looks good then she probably is just fine

 

[stm_96]

ok good
It could have just looked like it in the first picture

That picture was taken when she was only a few hours old.