This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Arthur Rivoire)
Hello from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm in Nova Scotia -
Teeth & Testicles again? I hear the collective groaning reverberating all
the way to Nova Scotia. Sorry about that, but I thought you should know
the NFHR's decision on the matter. I've just received their answer.
Six weeks or so ago, I wrote to each board member my concerns that the
NFHR's Stallion Certification Requirement as to proper teeth and testicles,
was not, in fact a requirement for all stallions -- only for those
stallions whose names appear in the Herald, and for Evaluated stallions.
-- This makes no sense. If there's a good reason to require T & T
certification in those instances, it makes even more sense to require it of
all breeding stallions.
The reason to do it at all is because a stallion with improper teeth and/or
testicles WILL PASS THIS ON. Everyone knows these conditions are highly
inheritable and considered one of the more serious defects in horses. No
breeder with any integrity or knowledge would breed a stallion with these
defects. -- However, there are stallions with these defects breeding in
America. Whether through ignorance or malintent, the result is the same
---- Genetic defects proliferated in North American Fjords.
Requiring that breeding stallions have proper T & T is the VERY MINIMUM
that the NFHR should be doing to keep up standards, yet they won't do it.
Yesterday, I received a letter from NFHR president, Dennis Johnson
explaining that the BOD had discussed this matter and decided ---- "not to
make any chages to the inspection and registration policy at the present
time."
This, even though - "The pros of your suggestions are obvious and are
embraced by the entire Board. There are cons however that need to be
respected also."
For God's sake! If the pros of my suggestions are so obvious, why not act
on them? And please tell us what are the cons. I can imagine some of them
. . . being sued, for instance . . . But, they are nothing compared to the
danger of leaving things as they are.
Dennis's letter said - "Of great concern to the Board members is that of
trusting such important decision to the judgement of many. Decisions such
as, where is that fine line for malocclusion? One Veterinarian may approve
a certain young stallion's teeth alignment and another may not, leaving
much room for inequities."
I don't get this reasoning. ---The NFHR has a Breed Standard and this
Standard spells it out regarding Teeth. - BITE: "On a mature Fjord
Horse, incisors must be properly occluded. A mal-occlusion of less than or
equal to 1/4 of a tooth wide should be considered a minor fault and more
than 1/4 tooth width should be considered a major fault, regardless of sex."
The NFHR is saying they can't trust a licensed veterinarian to make this
judgement. Come on now!
The Breed Standards state that "retained testicles (one or both) is a
"Fault of Conformation".
Certainly any vet can certify this.
The NFHR letter also said - "It is the opinion of the Board that improved
quality is better attained through education and by continuing to improve
and promote the NFHR Evaluation process."
I find it hypocritical that the Board claims to be interested in "improved
quality" and refuses to take the simple steps I've suggested to curb the
incidences of improper T & T in the North American Fjord gene pool.
The letter goes on - "It is the goal of the Board and the Evaluation team
to focus on the whole horse rather than on designated areas."
What does this mean? I've understood that a PREREQUISITE of NFHR stallion
evaluation is vet certification of teeth & testicles. In other words, the
Eval. process doesn't go any further if the stallion is bucktoothed and has
only one testicle. That means to me that someone considers these areas to
be more important than the stallion's other parts.
So, if I do understand this correctly, why not require this certification
of all breeding stallions. To me, it's a simple, easily implemented,
inexpensive way of allowing all stallions to be at least partially
Evaluated, and if education and Evaluation is a goal of the NFHR, my plan
is certainly better than nothing.
--- Let's face it! Of all the several hundred registered stallions that
breed, only a small percentage will ever go through a full Evaluation. The
reasons are: distance, money, lack of training, philosophical
disagreement with the whole process.
If the NFHR required all stallions to be checked for proper teeth and
testicles, none of these factors would matter. It's a simple, doable,
inexpensive process that I can't imagine anybody who understands breeding
and cares about the breed, objecting to. But then, I can't imagine why the
U.S. doesn't have gun control either. There's obviously a need as we're
reminded periodically.
This would NEVER HAPPEN IN EUROPE! And that's something to think about.
Say you just heard about Fjordhorses, and you'd like to have one. You've
heard about how healthy and sound they are in all ways. You want a
registered Fjord, and there are two groups offering pure-bred registered
Fjordhorses.
GROUP USA -
* All Fjords are guaranteed pure-bred
* DNA testing is required
* Has a rule against cross-breeding
* Doesn't allow in-breeding
* (So far so good -- in fact, very good!) - The rest is not so good
* Doesn't have even minimal stallion inspection (except for those
evaluated) - And this means that any stallion of any quality with any
number of severe faults, not to mention deformities, can be registered and
breed, and those foals are admitted to the registry. They are pure-bred,
registered Fjords, even though they carry the genes of severe faults.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GROUP EUROPEAN -
* All Fjords are pure-bred
* All must be DNA typed
* Doesn't allow inbreeding, and strongly discourages close breeding.
* All must be micro-chipped in order to be registered
* Most horses are evaluated and graded as to quality, ie, "A", "B", "C"
* The stallions are scrutinized for quality and the possibility of
inheritable defects.
* Because of this scrutiny there's not a chance in a million that an
approved stallion would have any, but the most minor of faults, or that
he would be carrying the genes of any but the most minor of faults.
* The offspring of the stallions are evaluated yearly with their
quality reflecting on the stallion. If he doesn't produce well, he
doesn't stay.
Now, if you were going to spend several thousand dollars on a Fjordhorse,
where would you go shopping?
Yes, I know that all of the rules and regulations of the European Fjord
Studbooks are not possible in America.
However, some things can be done, and the NFHR as the guardian of the
breed in America, has an obligation. I urge the NFHR to keep this matter
on the table. It deserves much more discussion and investigation. Any
veterinarian can read the NFHR Breed Standards and certify if a stallion
has more than 1/4 tooth width malocclusion. Any vet can certify if the
stallion has two testicles, or not.
This should be done. IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO!
Sincerely,
Carol Rivoire
Carol and Arthur Rivoire
Beaver Dam Farm Fjords II
R.R. 7 Pomquet
Antigonish County
Nova Scotia
B2G 2L4
902 386 2304
http://www.beaverdamfarm.com
