Frequently Asked Questions

All samples are to be posted to:

As an environmentally friendly company, all results are strictly emailed in an effort to save paper. You can choose to print the results yourself or if you don't have a computer there are plenty of printing companies out there who can professional print for you.

No, a picture of your horse is NOT a requirement. We will test your horse's DNA with or without a picture. Your horse's picture can be used for the DNA report cover and the breed certificate if you send one in to us. The picture is a lovely finishing touch for keepsake and display purposes, especially if the DNA test is given a gift.

Just email your horse's picture over to us at info@dnamyhorse.co.uk

Every horse will receive their own personalized report. If you sent us your horse's picture, the picture will be included on the report cover and on the special breed composition certificate. The breed composition certificate can be printed out for display or shared on your social media.

The report also includes what breed(s) is in your horse's genetic makeup as well as an explanation of the results. Depending on your horse's breed composition, your report will include info about your horse's breed(s). This information includes diseases and health problems that are prominent for that breed as well as tons of other information including the breed's proper nutrition, uses, origin, temperament, conformation, etc.

The report will contain any results found in our database of your horse's parentage search.

We use our own proprietary bio-algorithm that we developed to determine your horse's breed composition. While we try to strive for your horse's recent breed composition, results may show breed(s) in a later generation.

That is correct. As a US based company that does not have a location in the UK we do not have to be registered with the UK. Our mailing address is used soley for mailing purposes as all testing is performed at our headquarters in the US.

As we follow the proper government guidelines, we are working on establishing a permanent location in the UK for a stronger presence.

Yes! Our results will name specific breeds and not just generalizations such as just "cob".

On a case by case basis, we have been able to find matches in our database for horses' sires and dams. We cannot guarantee that the free parentage search that comes with our breed test will yield matches in our database.

In cases of finding only one parent (sire or dam), the result is "unconfirmed" until the other parent's DNA can be found to confirm the match. If no matches are found at the time of testing, we do keep all DNA on file so if any future matches are found, the tested horse's owner will be contacted with whatever means we have on file for owner such as phone number, email address, and/or postal address. We are looking to build partnerships with breed organizations to be able to have access to more DNA markers to search against in our database which means that all horses previously tested by us will be searched against all horses and DNA markers that we have access to.

The DNA My Horse Breed/Ancestry Test is designed for the sole purpose of identifying breeds found in the genetic composition of horses. This test identifies DNA that matches the validated breeds that make up the database.

Your analysis will be compiled based on the results obtained from your horse's DNA sample submission and will be processed with a reasonable amount of certainty. It is possible that there have been some random changes within your horse’s DNA which may affect the results. The testing procedures and database are designed to recognise that this may happen and minimise any effect. It is understood that no analytical test is 100% accurate. DNA My Horse is not responsible for any inferences made about any individual horsed based upon the provided information.

The test is based upon a database of recognised breeds. If your horse contains other breeds, not in the database, it may give rise to the identification of breeds earlier in your horse’s history and may therefore provide a seemingly unlikely result for your horse. It is important to understand that each horse is uniquely individual. Two horses with the same breeds detected in their DNA may exhibit drastically different physical traits. In terms of behaviour and personality, while certain traits may generally be associated with specific breeds, behavior will also be influenced by environment, training and handling.

The behaviour, health and personality summary is for informational purposes only, and is based on information publicly available on purebred horses. This information is not intended to predict disease or behaviour, but is intended solely as a guide to traits often found in the breeds identified in your horse. These traits may or may not be found in your individual horse.

Although the lab we use is highly accurate, no medical, scientific, or genetic testing is ever 100% accurate - there are simply too many places for errors to occur. The errors can come from any number of places (barn, persons handling samples, allele dropout, heat degradation, contamination, etc.) and any result should be checked against good strong controls, then rechecked, then questioned.

The test is reasonably good but there is no way to determine how accurate it is. If a purebred horse is tested it will almost always be assigned to the correct breed. The more breeds involved in a cross the lower the probability that a good result will be delivered.

Another point is that breeds within a group of related breeds will be given similar probabilities. Thus, the subject horse may be purebred Holsteiner but the test results may show Hanoverian. This is because Warmblood breeds are very similar at the level we can test at. True pony breeds are also closely related to the heavy draft breeds. Many breeds have Thoroughbred in their make-up and they will give similar results and will often show similarity to Warmblood breeds.

We test for genetic markers unique to each horse breed. Many breeds share these genetic traits together which means some tested horses may show closer affinity to a related breed than to the one it actually comes from. A horse's DNA is carried down generation to generation with some markers that get passed on. It is not possible to identify the generation the markers come from. We report the likelihood of the horse being from the breed identified based on the markers present, whether recent or in the past. While our test aims for recent breed composition, the results may show breed(s) that are further back in the pedigree.

Yes, we can possibly find out if your horse is registered if the DNA is flagged in our system for a previously tested match during testing if we were given the information (via testing by previous owner or DNA marker/info submission by previous owner, breeder, etc)

You can share your results with friends and family as many of our customers do! The beautiful personalised DNA reports and breed composition certificates can be printed and displayed or saved onto your computer. If we are able to find your horse's sire and/or dam, this allows owners to get a more complete picture of their horse's history. Some clients were even able to get their horse registered after learning who the parents are.

Most of all, our customers are just chuffed to find out what breed their horses are composed of!