AQHA Disease Panel Testing

It\’s that time of year again. Before the mad rush of the Christmas season begins, it\’s time for me to get all of my records in order with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). Time to get the foals registered (before they become 7 months of age), time to ask questions for any of the straggling documents I\’m still waiting to receive, and time to register all of the stallion breedings. November 30 is an important deadline for stallion owners as all AQHA stallion breeding reports and AQHA Incentive Fund stallion nomination forms must be postmarked on or before November 30, 2014 – or a late fee may be incurred.

One of the newest developments for Quarter Horse breeders in the last year has been that all stallions that bred 25 or more mares in 2014 are now required to have their five-panel disease test results on file, as per Rule REG108.5 in the 2014 AQHA Official Handbook of Rules and Regulations. Going forward to 2015, all breeding stallions (regardless of how many mares they bred in 2015) must be tested.

Personally, I think this is a very welcome development in our industry. It helps owners and breeders make informed decisions. To facilitate this, AQHA offers a five-panel test for HYPP, PSSM1, MH, GBED and HERDA (also known as \”The Big 5\”). The test results will be public, available by request from AQHA and eventually will be printed on horses\’ AQHA registration certificates.

And as we\’ve seen in many stallion advertisements, if the results are \”clean\” owners are now proudly detailing the fact that they\’ve had their horses tested and hanging the results out for everyone to see.

DNA testing may also be required of other horses depending upon the rules. Refer the AQHA Official Handbook for complete information or contact AQHA Customer Service at (806) 376-4811 for more information.

Panel testing for The Big 5 costs $85 US. A Panel test plus DNA test costs $105. Non-members can also have the test done on their horse(s) for $125.

Disease panel test kits can be ordered online at www.aqha.com/genetictesting.

To learn more about submitting online reports, visit www.aqha.com/sbr, and for questions concerning stallion breeding reports, contact [email protected]. AQHA customer service representatives are available until midnight November 30, to answer SBR questions.

I\’m curious to see how the new ruling for stallions to be Disease Panel tested in 2015 will affect our breeding industry. As always, if you have any thoughts on the subject we welcome them in the comments section below.

– JW