Friday 24 April 2009

Equine Intersex

From Bloodhorse.com:
Year-and-a-half-old testing for anabolic steroids in racehorses produced some unusual results — including the discovery of a Standardbred filly that’s actually a male.

In Pennsylvania, tests showed a high elevation of testosterone in Arizona Helen, who was raced at the harness track Harrah’s Chester Racetrack and Casino, officials said April 23 during a session at the Association of Racing Commissioners International annual convention in Lexington. The test led to further tests that showed Arizona Helen’s white blood cells indicated she had the “XY sex reversal.”

Arizona Helen is an equine hermaphrodite, one of about 12 “sex-reversed” female horses.

“A few little curve balls have been thrown our way,” said Dr. Scot Waterman, executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium.

Kent Hastings of the United States Trotting Association said it was found that Arizona Helen has a vagina as well as testicular tissue.
Typical of Complete Androgen Insensitivity syndrome. It happens to H.Sap too, at a rate of about 1 in 13,000.
Arizona Helen is allowed to race as a male, and isn’t suited for breeding purposes.
Oh Jeez, they can't even get the sex right for horses. She's a mare. You could pump her full of testosterone and her cells would just ignore it. She has nothing of a stallion's strength, and probably doesn't even match the masculinisation of a gelding.

*SIGH*

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