dwarf types - pics

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Arion Mgmt

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Here is a link to show pics of the different types

dwarf site

Thank you Janell for your site

Tessa is type 1 - most common in the breed

Cassy and Shorty are type 2,

Little Bit is type 3

The others could be combinations of the different types, they show multiple characteristics of the 3 types.

Dusty however probably is type 1, or could be a carrier with recessive gene expressivity of codominace with the normal dominant gene.

John
 
I have a question...what exactly is wrong with Shorty? From what I can see in the picture, he looks like a lot of normal minis, and especially broodmares (longer in the back).
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Very interesting website. Thanks for posting it.
 
I was given a mini in the 70's. His knees were "C" shaped which ie went his whole life with. When I got him I took him to UC Davis to see what could be done for him. All they did was give him some anti inflamitorys and sent us home. When I gave it to him he felt so good. But then the next day he could hardlt walk. He wasn't too gimpy without the meds so we quit giving it to him. He lived a full life having little kids lead him around. I would not breed for a dwarf. But, I would do all I could for one if I ended up with one.
 
Thank you, John, for your efforts and your work. You are striving to make a big difference in the breed.

Lisa, I can't begin to speak for John, but I also don't know as a non-scientifically minded person if I would fully grasp his explaination of why he needs a live dwarf. I'm satisfied there is a true need or he'd not make such a request.

It's not "fun" to think about but we are very lucky someone like John puts this kind of time and expertise into finding answers.

Speaking over the years to many miniature horse owners, I know I'm not the only one who has thought "if we have a dwarf, I think I will have it put to sleep right away." Now, who knows if/when that ever happens and emotions get involved, but knowing I've thought it and that other people I've talked to have thought it, I hope someone will be able to give this donation.
 
mini charlie,

I do not know what you know about disease research whether in animals or humans but I will try to explain the difference and necessity of doing pathological study of the disease in question.

Lets say for instance you have a disease yourself that cuases your bones to grow in an abnormal way compared to other humans. You can talk to a doctor and describe in detail certain problems, pains and restictions you experience. The doctor does xrays, catscans, MRI's etc etc, and takes blood samples. The xrays catscans and MRI's reveal bone growth abnormalities in your legs arms and some of your other long bones like your ribs and even some in your head. He however with ALL OF THIS INFO cant look at the growth plate cells in your bones to see which cell layers in the growth plates are affected. He still cannot take those cells and grow them to see which protein is not expressed or expressed but not properly formed causing the growth plate cells to grow and function improperly. If he could get those cells to see how they are formed then isolate the defective protein or find out that they are not producing a certain protein that should be there then he can look up on Genbank or other gene website databases to see if it is sequenceed, and in the humans it probably is already. He then takes your blood and sequences that gene responsible for that protein and wala your mutation is found. It is much more time consuming and complicated than this but brevity is a must here.

OR

Your doctor takes your blood sample isolates the DNA. Then searches for others like you and hopes to find enough samples (about 50 or more that ARE INDENTICAL IN THE DISEASE) to use brand new data crunching software to hopefully find a general area in the genome that is similar in all the samples, the area could contain hundreds of genes, then you pick genes that have functions that are known to be involved in bone growth, which could be dozens, that each take weeks to sequence, sequence each gene on each sample, and try to find a mutation the exact same in all samples. And they all have to have the EXACT mutation, if not it is not the gene and you start all over with another gene.

Now with horses we dont have near those options.

The Genbank in not complete for the horse, the genome is sequenced but not the identity of genes and where they are. To better understand this concept is it is like making a copy of a 1000 page book, but not reading the the copy, just have it there ready to be read. We do not have horses that can talk, we must go off of examinations, xrays etc to look for physical abnormalities and growth that are the same. We do not have a way to tell all of the horses to donate their blood or be involved in research if they are a dwarf or have produced a dwarf, someone else controls that.

The new data crunching software I discussed above, I am using but I must have enough samples of the exact type and parent samples, that is just halfway looking at this though. I must thoroughly characterize the PHYSICAL description of the disease and show that 100% of all of the type 1 dwarfs with these specific growth abnormalities have this such and such mutation of this such and such gene. Without that I cannot really be sure the gene I find is the cause of all of the type 1 now can I??

Genetic research is much more complicated than most everyone realizes. Remember you are trying to find most likely a single nucleotide mutation in Hundreds of MILLIONS of nucleotides, you better be sure you have the right mutation for that disease, or you are looked at as an idiot, well you also wont get your work published because you will be considered an idiot with no real science to prove your work.

John
 
John,

Thank you for sharing this site.........and Kuddos to the person who put it together!

You listed "Types" of dwarfs. Would you label them and if possible, put some general descriptions with the Types?

For example.........One "Type" is what is often described as a "wiener dog", with the short legs and long body. We have had one dwarf born here that DEVELOPED into that "Type".......At birth it wasn't obvious. Happily we found him a wonderful loving home.....we no longer have his sire OR his dam.

Thank you for the work you are doing with this.......
 
Type 1 is not the "weiner dog" type that is type two, the website I linked has names on the dwarfs I labeled the names withtheir types, Tessa is a type 1, Shorty and Casey are type 2, Little Bit is type 3
 
This could make such a huge difference in the future of our breed and save so many from pain and heartbreak in the time to come
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