Can Horses Have Down Syndrome? (Find Out!)
While out with some friends the other night, we were having a discussion about some children that she teaches at her job.
She works with children with special needs of many kinds, and some cases of children with down syndrome.
It was a really interesting discussion, which naturally led us, a bunch of horse lovers, to one question—can horses have down syndrome?
None of us were sure, so we decided to do our own research when we got home.
So, can horses have down syndrome?
Horses can suffer from chromosome abnormalities similar to down syndrome. The closest case is a condition called autosomal trisomy, where they have three copies of a certain chromosome rather than the ordinary two. This can cause down syndrome like symptoms, such as an overbite, limb deformities and scoliosis.
So, while horses cannot have a condition that we could directly call down syndrome, they can suffer from many similar conditions.
Cases can vary a great deal by each horse, so it isn’t always entirely clear to see that a horse has these conditions.
In any case, it’s certainly very rare, even more so than in humans.
Often, horses afflicted with the condition can live a reasonably ordinary life.
Let’s look further into this.
What is down syndrome?
First of all, let’s establish exactly what it means to have down syndrome.
Essentially, down syndrome is a condition caused before birth by a child developing with an extra copy of its 21st chromosome.
This is where we get the name trisomy 21, another name for down syndrome.
This usually occurs by chance, and can often be detected before birth.
Down syndrome can have varying levels of severity, but it is quite debilitating in most cases.
It affects fertility and development, and those who have down syndrome typically have a variety of learning difficulties.
Down’s syndrome almost never runs in the family, but is, as I said, just the result of pure chance.
The same is true of the similar conditions exhibited by horses.
Chromosomes are essentially the containers of our genes and genetic makeup, so when an error occurs and some are copied, there is genetic information missing.
This leads to the numerous symptoms associated with down syndrome.
What about genetic disorders, then?
As we’ve established, down syndrome is not a genetic disorder but merely the result of chance.
Can horses have genetic disorders?
Yes, they certainly can—indeed, any animal can suffer some kind of genetic disorder.
A genetic disorder is simply any disorder which is passed down through generations, and which is not the result of random chance.
There are countless genetic disorders that horses can have, just as you can imagine.
However, they cannot have down syndrome, only a similar syndrome.
Even if they could have down syndrome in precisely the same way we do, they wouldn’t pass it down through the generations.
Indeed, as I mentioned, down syndrome affects fertility, as does virtually any disorder that affects chromosomes.
Horses cannot pass down syndrome, or autosomal trisomy, down the generations because the horses that have it are infertile, in almost all cases.
Let’s look at how these chromosomal disorders can affect horses.
What happens to a horse with down syndrome?
The simple answer is a great variety of things, just like in humans.
Again, just to stress, horses do not have a direct parallel with down syndrome—just a very similar condition called autosomal trisomy.
Horses can have many clinical signs of autosomal trisomy, such as abnormal genitalia.
Again, the animal will be infertile, and this can often be seen by looking at its genitals.
They may also have an overbite, which is also a common symptom of down syndrome in humans.
Angular limb deformities are also common.
Finally, neurological deficits as well as metabolic issues.
There are many problems associated with autosomal trisomy, which horses are born with and cannot be cured.
What is a chromosome?
Chromosomes are essentially the building blocks of each of your cells.
They are thread like structures found in the nuclei of all animal and plant cells, and they are, most importantly, passed down from parent to offspring.
Chromosomes contain all the genetic information needed to build cells.
This is how your body works—by using these genetic instructions to build your cells and repair your body.
Naturally, a problem in this area can lead to serious health issues.
If your body is unable to properly write its genetic structure, then naturally, things begin to break down.
So, no, horses cannot really have down syndrome.
They can have very similar conditions, but nothing which is an exact parallel.
Chromosomal conditions such as this are very common throughout the animal kingdom, since there are no animals without chromosomes.
There is, naturally, a great deal of room for things to go wrong in many cases, then. In horses, it is by no means common, but it can happen.