Dwarfism Letter in the Journal (& recap of John's thesis)

[targetsmom]

I sent a Letter to the Editor to both the MHW and the Journal about John Eberth's thesis on dwarfism and the Journal published it in the current issue, You can use the link to the Journal at the top of the page for the Dec 2013/Jan 2014 issue or use this one: http://digital.turn-page.com/i/226368 and go to page 14. I ran it by John first to make sure that my recap of his results was accurate and revised accordingly. I noted that the MHW chose not to print it.

Comments? Does this help people understand dwarfism better? I know it was an eye-opener for me when I realized the implications of all those early fetal deaths.

 

[gvpalominominis]

With such an important topic, especially when AMHA is on the verge of closing their gene pool.. I'm disappointed but not surprised that AMHA World Mag. refused to run your summary of John's thesis. If my breeding focus was on just AMHA registered horses... I would be a little scared right now. This is verifiable proof, not a scam, that breeding without caution within certain bloodlines is inevitable death to a breeding program and any attempt to 'develop' a 'breed'. If you truly care about something, wouldn't you want to know and share the good and the bad and how to move forward safely and positively??

 

[walkermini]

I noticed the letter, but I havent had a chance to read it. I didnt pay attention to who wrote the letter when I glanced through the journal. I was curious at the time if there had been a letter sent to AMHA also, so thanks for posting this! Hmm, definately interesting to me that ASPC/AMHR would post it and AMHA didnt, yet at least. (especially considering where John had noted in his thesis about the number of AMHA dwarf carriers versus the number of AMHR in his study).

 

[misty'smom]

This is something I must read as I got my little dwarf Josie last year along with her half sister Misty who is not a dwarf. I feel in love with Josie when going to visit Misty each week until she was weaned. They are 1 month apart and were always together so Josie has a forever home with me.

I have read some things about dwarfs here and online. One thing I am applaud at is that some people breed these little ones and then sell their foals as "the smallest miniature horses" to people that do not know the difference!! I defiantly will sit down and read this as soon as I have time even if it is after the holidays when I can devote my full attention. I have often thought as my girls get older I would like to find a way to make people aware of what a dwarf is and the health issues and risks that go with it. Maybe some day I can take them to some local farm shows, horse shows etc to educate people on them as minis are becoming more popular in Va.

 

[Treciah]

Thanks for taking the time to write the letter as a reminder for all of us about the problem of dwarfism.

If AMHA didn't publish the letter right away it doesn't mean they are hiding the issue, they may not have had the space. It is sad to see the conclusions jumped to because they didn't run it...yet Just because we write something doesn't mean it will automatically make it into print. I have had several published articles over the years, but not every one I have written has gotten published...that is just a matter of space, whether the editor feels it will create interest to drive the magazine etc. Journal this issue happens to be one of the biggest issues of the year so it will have more available space to have non advertising copy which includes letters and articles. Just something to consider.

Again thanks for writing the letter and bringing this information out to everyone.

 

[R3]

I think it was an interesting letter, but I can fully see why AMHA would not publish it and AMHR would.

It is a letter that summarizes some very scientific material. The information is complex, and in such a short letter, the reader may not be able to fully understand it (at least I didn't). And, if I was AMHA, I would not want AMHA horses to be compared to AMHR horses in a what appears to be a negative light, when there is no way, from the information presented, to see if it was a 'fair' comparison.

It states, "The prevalence of these 4 ACAN mutations among AMHA miniature horses may be as high as 40% or more."

For the AMHR horses it say, "Among 44 random horses from the AMHR registry (with unknown dwarf status) two tested positive as carriers fo D2 (N/D2), but none were found that had any other ACAN mutations in any combinations."

From only what is presented in this letter, it is not possible to see if this is comparing 'apples to apples', between the organizations' horses, or if it is 'apples to oranges'. There is no mention in the AMHA part about the number of animals in the study, whether the AMHA horses were of unknown dwarf status, or even if they were comparing the exact same 'issues'.

If I was AMHA, I would not want to print a letter that painted the animals in my Association as 'inferior' to any other organization, not based solely on a non-scientific person's brief presentation of someone else's scientific work.

I would hope though that AMHA does run a full article on the dwarf study, and that they cover the issue fully, the good, the bad, and the ugly. But again, I do fully understand why they would not want to print 'the letter',

 

[Jacki]

I have not read the Eberth thesis so I'm not commenting on it. That said, a thesis is a very in-depth study of a topic, difficult to summarize in a letter and so if AMHA rejected the article that may be one of the reasons.

Is the complete thesis available on-line? I've looked for it several times but not found it yet. I'm also wondering if it (or a version of it) has been published in a peer reviewed journal?

Thanks for anyone who can point me to it.

Jacki

 

[horsehug]

Jacki, if you look at the top of the Forum front page underneath all the banner ads, you will see this in red.

Chondrodysplasia-like Dwarfism in the Miniature Horse. Click on that.

Susan O.

 

[Jacki]

Jacki, if you look at the top of the Forum front page underneath all the banner ads, you will see this in red.

Chondrodysplasia-like Dwarfism in the Miniature Horse. Click on that.

Susan O.

Thank you!