High Westgarth Farm brood mares, offspring and stallions.

19/12/2024

He will grow into it. Lol
Jayne Alexander

17/12/2024

Working long and low, plus halt may be Rosehill Black Onyx forte when he gets into dressage tests.
Last day with Jill Britton and Trevor Glass.

14/12/2024

The foals being silly this morning.
The foals are in the barn during the day and stabled on a night.
Aphrodite
Vania
Zoltan.

10/12/2024

Update on Onyx who is now more fluent and turning much more confidently. He has another 2 weeks then he comes home.
His drive training will reduce to one or days days or halt over winter and will be returned to it in the summer now he knows the basics.
What a good boy.
Trained with Trevor Glass and Jill Britton.

06/12/2024

The babies having a tie up lesson.
Good as gold except Vania who needed two lead ropes as I feared she would get loose. She nibbles them and tugs at them. 🐒
Aphrodite
Zoltan
Vania

04/12/2024

If you missed the recent announcement, the KFPS revealed that the kinship percentage for all living Friesians is now available in the My KFPS database and will be updated annually in the fall around the November timeframe. Previously, kinship data was only published for Studbook stallions and mares....

02/12/2024

28/11/2024

Onyx being a good boy, first time in cart.
Lots of work to go but so far its going well.
Thank you Trevor Glass and Jill Britton.

26/11/2024

24/11/2024

The three foals still here till Dec. All High Westgarth. In order of appearance.
Zoltan Friesian x fell/arab
Vania Friesian x Dales
Aphrodite pure Friesian

22/11/2024

22/11/2024

Just in Time is tested for Dwafism & Waterhead

Dwarfism Carrier’s in the Warlander race

As you would be aware the purebred Friesian breed is sadly riddled with genetic issues due to inbreeding in the past. Thankfully, testing is available for several of these genetic disorders including Friesian dwarfism which can be passed on to the Warlander horse.

The Warlander Studbook ‘does’ have a known carrier for Friesian dwarfism in Australia (through testing).

Carriers are normal in appearance, but there is a 50% chance that they will pass the affected copy of the gene on to their offspring. This means that if two carriers are bred, there is a 25% chance that the offspring is affected by dwarfism.

Therefore, if you are purchasing a Warlander horse (male entire or female) please ensure that the breeder supplies you with the testing results of your horse prior to sale if one of the parents is a known carrier (tested) or from lineage of known carriers.

If it is found that your horse you purchase is a carrier, then it is your responsibility as the new owner to make informed breeding decisions, to test all progeny and be transparent to any future owners so they don’t suffer the consequences of a breeding that produces a deformed foal or one that could put the mare’s life at risk.

The graph (whilst it is dogs, is same for horses) shows inheritability. Obviously in this case (dwarfism) you would not be breeding with an affected horse but it shows the role carrier's play.

You are welcome to contact the International Studbook – Warlander Studbook Society and we will supply you with the affected line in the Warlander horse in Australia and we do keep records of Friesian lines known to be carriers for hydrocephalus and dwarfism.

Upon registration of horses known to come from carriers, WSS will insist that you supply us with or obtain a genetic test to verify the status of your horse.

Testing is available in Australia through our testing facility at https://www.practicalhorsegenetics.com.au/index.php?test=frs
Resources:
https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/test/friesian-horse-dwarfism
https://generatio.de/en/guidance/lexicon/friesian-dwarfism-fd-horse #:~:text=Carriers%20may%20be%20bred%20to,of%20the%20offspring%20being%20affected.