Mountain Pleasure Horse

This DNA-based parentage test uses microsatellite marker analysis to compare the DNA profile of an offspring to the profiles of possible parents.

Multiple congenital ocular anomalies (MCOA) is an inherited eye disorder that is associated with the silver dilution and is characterized by ocular cysts, enlargement of the cornea, abnormally formed iris/retina, and additional abnormalities.

Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a procedure used to screen embryos recovered after uterine flush to determine sex and genetic traits through DNA testing prior to implantation in the uterus.

Tobiano is a white spotting pattern characterized by white on the body that crosses the topline.

The silver dilution dilutes black/brown pigment to lighten the manes and tails of black and bay horses to a flaxen or silver gray. The silver dilution is also associated with an inherited ocular syndrome known as Multiple Congenital Ocular Anomalies (MCOA).

Roan is a white patterning coat color trait characterized by intermixed white and colored hairs in the body while the head, lower legs, mane, and tail remain colored.

The extension gene, or red factor, determines whether a horse will have a chestnut base coat color or a black or bay base coat color.

The gray gene causes progressive depigmentation of the hair, often resulting in a color that is almost completely white by 6-8 years of age.

Dominant white is a variable white spotting pattern caused by many different mutations in the KIT gene. The VGL tests for the four most common mutations known as W5, W10, W20, and W22. Homozygosity for W5, W10, or W22 is thought to be non-viable.

Cream is a dilution that causes the palomino, buckskin, smoky black, cremello, perlino, and smoky cream coat colors.