Hanover Shoe Farms is partnering with the Equine Pregnancy Lab at the Cornell University Baker Institute for Animal Health, part of the College of Veterinary Medicine, to study early pregnancy loss in the Standardbred mare.
Russell Williams, President and CEO at Hanover Shoe Farms, will be collaborating with Dr. Mandi de Mestre, the Mcconville Professor of Equine Medicine and Director of the Baker Institute for Animal Health, to investigate the genetic causes of equine early pregnancy loss in Standardbreds.
It is widely observed that 10-15 per cent of all confirmed horse pregnancies fail to result in live birth and Dr. de Mestre has studied this phenomenon for more than 15 years during her time at the Royal Veterinary College in London, England and now at New York's Cornell University. She has found that over 50 per cent of pregnancy losses are attributed to genetic abnormalities in the fetus including chromosomal errors.
Dr. de Mestre's previous studies utilized a Thoroughbred model primarily and she is eager to extend this project to include
Standardbreds, which use Artificial Insemination (Al) as the primary breeding method.
"As the largest Standardbred breeding farm in North America, Hanover Shoe Farms is a welcome partner for the collaboration, and their outstanding staff and noted excellence at managing a large and valuable herd will provide the project with the support to explore the important contribution of this condition in the Standardbred," said Dr. de Mestre.
(With files from Hanover Shoe Farms)