Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome Resources for Breeders

The subject of Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome is a hot topic among breeders today, not surprisingly. Resources and information about WFFS are not all together in one place, which makes it hard to get all the information you need to make informed decisions regarding WFFS in your breeding program. The WBG - WFFS Awareness Group on Facebook is a closed group, but they have assembled a list of resources and shared it with us. I will be adding to this list, which you'll find below.

What is WFFS?

According to Wikipedia, Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome (WFFS) "is a genetically induced disorder seen in horses, specifically those belonging to the Warmblood breeds. Affected foals have extremely fragile skin that tears or cuts from contact with normal surroundings, are subject to infections, and are often euthanized within a few days of birth. The disease is caused by a mutation of a gene and is incurable."

WFFS is a recessive trait, which in this case means that horses can be:

• N/N - they have two copies of the dominant allele (version of the gene). They do not have or carry WFFS and cannot pass it on to their offspring. They are clear of the mutation.
• WFFS/N - they have one allele with the WFFS mutation and one without. They are perfectly normal, but are able to pass the mutation on to their offspring some of the time. Horses who are WFFS/N are carriers of the mutation but do not have the defect.
• WFFS/WFFS - they have the defect and usually are aborted before they are born. If they are born, they are as described above and must be euthanized. There are no adult horses with WFFS/WFFS status, because they do not survive.

Because WFFS is recessive, in order to get a foal with the defect you would have to breed a carrier to a carrier. If you breed a carrier to a horse that is clear of the gene, you will never get a foal with the defect. 

Reference Links

• WFFS FAQs
• Description of WFFS on the UC Davis website
• Description of WFFS on the Animal Genetics website
• Statement on WFFS from the World Breeders Federation for Sport Horses (PDF)
• Q & A with Dr. Nena Winand (Discoverer of the WFFS gene. The interview will appear in Horse International magazine.)
• WFFS FAQs - Hilltop Farm, Inc.
• Applied Genetics (Article in Equus magazine on several different genetic mutations in horses, and on testing. Good info on basics of dominant and recessive genes.)
• What is WFFS - What We Know (May 2018) (Article on Practical Horse Genetics website.)

• Skin malformations in a neonatal foal tested homozygous positive for Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome (Research paper posted on US National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health)
• Hilltop Withdraws Sternlicht from Breeding Roster (Article on WarmbloodStallionsNA.com Breeding News Blog)
• WFFS (Article on EquiSeq about how WFFS is inherited)
• A Deadly Foal Night (First-hand account of a foal born with WFFS. In German. Some browsers, like Chrome, offer a translation.)
• US Breeders on Alert for WFFS (Article on Eurodressage, April 14, 2018.)
• Breeders Beware of WFFS (Article by Mary Nuttall on Eurodressage, April 23, 2018.)
• WFFS Case Study (Veterinarian report on Mary Nuttall's foal born with WFFS.)
• The What-Ifs of WFFS (Article on JW Equine.)
• Kareen Heineking-Schütte: Two Cents About WFFS (Article on Eurodressage, May 20, 2018. Opinions and viewpoint of a German veterinarian; in English.)
• Dutch Veterinarians Not Familiar with WFFS (Dutch article about WFFS and awareness of it. In Dutch.)
• Swiss Horse with Symptoms 2010 (Research paper posted on US National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health. Description in 2010 of possible WFFS case, not identified at the time.)
• Case of WFFS Documented (Article about the early Swiss case.)
• WFFS - Breeding News Updates (One of several articles on WFFS in the International Breeding News for Sport Horses.)
• Irish Warmblood position statement (on Facebook)
• KWPN To Test All Stallions for WFFS (In Dutch.)
• It’s All in the Genes: Horse Traits and Heritability (Article by Nancy S. Loving, DVM on theHorse.com with some good info about how genetics works.)

Original Patent submitted by Cornell:

• https://patents.google.com/patent/US20140186835A1/en

Testing in the USA:

• Animal Genetics
• Animal Genetics form for testing
• UC Davis - info and testing

Testing in Germany:

• Labogen

Testing in England:

• Laboklin
• Animal Genetics (Europe), 1 Mount Charles Rd, St. Austell Cornwall, PL25 3LB, ENGLAND: Telephone: 44 (0)1726247788

Testing in Australia:

• Practical Horse Genetics