Why test for cerebellar abiotrophy (CA)?

CA can appear in pure- and part-bred Arabians. Horses affected by CA can show head tremors, problems with their balance, and exaggerated or erratic leg movements. The age where signs of CA appear and severity of the signs vary a lot. In the best cases, the horse appears normal for several years (or more, in at least one Australian case). In the worst cases an affected foal will be unable to stand without assistance after birth, and will need to be euthanased. Most cases fall between these two extremes, with signs appearing in a weanling or young horse that progressively worsen over a few months or years.

CA is an autosomal recessive disorder. Autosomal disorders are equally likely to affect male or female horses, while "recessive" means that a horse needs to inherit the CA mutation from both its sire and its dam to be affected. Horses that have inherited the CA mutation from just one parent are called CA carriers, and do not have physical signs of this disorder.

Any CA carrier can potentially produce a foal suffering from CA. Fortunately this is easily avoided: you simply need to ensure that the prospective foal cannot inherit the CA mutation from both its sire and its dam. Therefore, if you have a CA carrier horse and it is mated to a CA-clear horse there is no risk of the foal being affected with CA.

Much more information has been collected at www.cerebellar-abiotrophy.org.

Foal with signs of CA

Search YouTube for more examples of horses and foals showing the physical signs of CA.

Discounted CA testing

We provide discounted testing for the Arabian Horse Society of Australia: find their testing order form here.

However, if you are in a hurry to find out your results the fastest option is to test directly with us.