Re: CIDs

["Visions of the Wind" <wind@visionsofthewind.com>]

>My breed is Morgans, not Arabs, but I have some dim
>recollection that not everybody in the Arab world shared
>Lif's outlook.  In fact, I kind of thought the discovery of
>CIDs in Arabs created a huge storm of controversy and a
>knock-down, drag-out, blood all-over-the-place fight within
>the breed over whether CIDs carriers should be allowed to be
>registered at all.  It was a lot like the Impressive Syndrome
>problem in Quarter Horses.

You're right here - there *was* a huge controversy about breeding SCID
carriers once the gene was identified and a genetic test was developed to
identify carrier (this was about 3 years ago)

>
>Are Arabs required to be CIDs tested before they can be
>registered?  With a positive or negative indication on the
>papers?

No. I believe they should be though... There are too many stallions at the
big breeding/training farms that ARE SCID carriers though. Too much money
involved... :-(

>
>The problem is that going "laissez-faire" with CIDs, even
>with testing, still means that the recessive spreads
>much more widely through the population and there become
>fewer and fewer horses that you can match together.  As
>somebody interested in heirloom mare lines in Morgans, for
>instance, one would hate to get in to the position where
>the only living descendants of a "clean" mare line now
>have the CIDs gene because the last daughter was crossed
>with a CIDs stallion who happened to fullfill the 50%
>chance to pass on the gene.

But that mare could still have foals that are SCID free...

>
>A human worst-case example with similar inheritance
>properties and similar ultimately fatal results is
>sicle cell anemia.
>
>What is the history of CIDs in Arabs?  Did it start out
>in one horse or one breeder's herd like Impressive Syndrome,
>or was it always kind of endemic and spread evenly
>throughout the population?  How widespread is the presence
>of the gene now?  Is its incidence being tracked?
>

SCID was originally identified in several small breeding groups, both here
in the states and in Australia. It is DEFINITELY more prevalent in certain
bloodlines. The gene is considered present in less than 30% of all Arabians,
and SCID foals represent approximately 2-4% of all Arabian foals born.
(There may, of course, be more SCID fetuses that are aborted before
foaling). The Arabian community is trying to keep SCID under wraps, but
many, many responsible breeders are having their breeding stock tested and
are culling ruthlessly. Myself included. I had fully intended to geld my
stallion if he turned out to be SCID positive (he was negative).

Stephanie McCray
Visions of the Wind
11920 Spruce Canyon Cr.
Golden, CO 80403
303-642-7508
wind@visionsofthewind.com
http://www.visionsofthewind.com
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