Owens explains, “Horse caregivers often soak or steam hay to reduce its non-structural carbohydrate (NCS), including water soluble carbohydrates (WSCs). A high dietary intake of these carbohydrates can be detrimental to some horses.”

“Until now, we didn’t have research supporting the idea that chemo works for equines,” said Luethy. “There were studies on specific chemo drugs but nothing covering a range of chemotherapeutic protocols. The goal of our study was to understand whether chemo prolongs life for horses with the disease.”

Splash White 5 was identified in a group of related French Paint Horses—these horses, a stallion and seven of his daughters, had white spotting that resembled existing Splash White patterns, but they tested negative for the four existing alleles that create those coat patterns as well as other white spotting patterns. Whole genome sequencing helped identify a new Splash White spotting pattern in these horses, created as a result of a genetic deletion of the MITF gene—the MITF gene is the same location where two other Splash White spotting patterns (Splash White 1and Splash White 3) reside. The research, led by J. Henkel of the University of Bern (Switzerland) Institute of Genetics, was published in the April 2019 issue of Animal Genetics—read the study’s abstract and full-text online. Since then, Splash White 5 has been identified in U.S.-based Paint Horses, as well.