Appaloosa Panel 1

Leopard Complex & Congenital Stationary Night Blindness

Leopard complex or appaloosa spotting is a white pattern in horses characterized by a variable amounts of white in the coat with or without pigmented leopard spots. Horses homozygous for this variant have an ocular condition known as congenital stationary night blindness.

Appaloosa Pattern-1 (PATN1)

Appaloosa Pattern-1 is a modifier of the leopard complex spotting (LP) and controls the amount of white in the coat pattern.

Red Factor

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.

Agouti (Bay/Black)

The agouti gene controls the distribution of black pigment, and determines whether a horse will have a bay or black base coat color.

Splashed White Mutations – SW1, SW2, SW3, SW4, SW5, SW6, SW7 and SW8

Splashed white is a variable white spotting pattern characterized by a broad blaze, extended white markings on the legs, variable white spotting on the belly, and often one or both blue eyes. Eight mutations in two different genes have been shown to cause the splashed white pattern.

Dominant White Mutations – W5, W10, W13, W20, and W22

Dominant white is a variable white spotting pattern caused by many different mutations in the KIT gene. The VGL tests for the five most common mutations known as W5, W10, W13, W20, and W22. Homozygosity for W5, W10, W13 or W22 is thought to be non-viable.

Sample Collection

Horse DNA tests are carried out using cells from the roots of a hair sample (roughly 20-30 hairs).

1. Grab about 10 hairs at the base.

2. Wrap the hairs around your finger and give it a quick pull.

3. Check the ends to make sure the pulled hairs have roots.

4. Repeat the process until you have collected about 20-30 hairs with intact roots.

5. You can choose different places on the mane or tail. NOTE: For foals, we recommend pulling all hairs from the tail only. 

6. Tape the hairs to the submission form and fold the form along the dotted line to protect the sample. Do not use ziploc bags as they can cause condensation that allows mold to grow on the hair.

Hairs with roots

7. Place the folded form containing the sample in a paper envelope and mail it to the laboratory.

 

Type of Sample

Species

Type of Panel