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Breeding in Horses

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Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology

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Definition of the Subject

Animal breeding can be defined as a human activity with the deliberate purpose to change existing populations of animals in some desired directions, so that future generations of these animals become more valuable in some sense. A prerequisite for successful animal breeding is that there is a genetic variation in the population in the traits one want to improve in future generations. Other requirements are: clear definitions of the breeding goals, good pedigree files, valid measures of the desired traits, methods of genetic evaluations that can combine information from the pedigree and the measured trait, and finally effective selection of breeding animals with high estimated genetic values (BV = breeding values ) and therefore presumably with relatively large proportion of valuable genes affecting the desired traits.

The selected parents will transmit their genes to the next generation, and depending on the amount of genetic variation in the traits, accuracy...

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Abbreviations

Animal model (AM):

Statistical models that are used for evaluation of breeding values of all individuals in the population of interest.

Best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP):

Standard statistical method for estimating breeding values in populations. BLUP adjusts for systematic fixed environmental effects and accounts for genetic relationships among animals.

Breeding value (BV):

Mean additive genetic value of an individual relative to all members of the (base) population.

Effective population size (N e):

Number of individuals that would give rise to calculated sampling variance, or rate of inbreeding, if they bred in the manner of the idealized population with complete random mating, no selection, no migration, and no mutations.

Estimated breeding value (EBV):

Estimate of the mean additive genetic value of an individual for a quantitative trait.

Generation interval (L):

Average age of the parents when their progenies that will replace them in breeding are born.

Heritability (h 2):

Measures the extent to which the phenotypes are determined by genetic factors. It is expressed as the ratio between additive genetic variance and the total phenotypic variance.

Inbreeding coefficient (F):

Measure of the probability that two genes at any locus in an individual are identical by descent. It refers to an individual and expresses the degree of genetic relationship between the individual’s parents.

Riding horse:

The narrow definition of riding horse or sport horse refers to horses of “Warmblood” breeds or Thoroughbred crosses, which compete in the classical equestrian sporting events of dressage, show jumping, and eventing. However, the broad definition of a riding horse refers to a horse used for any type of riding and will be used here.

Selection:

Any natural or artificial process favoring the survival and propagation of certain individuals in a population.

Selection intensity (i):

Function of the proportion of animals selected for breeding relative to the total number of animals available for selection. The smaller the proportion selected, the higher the selection intensity.

Timeform handicap ratings:

An estimate of racing capacity of Thoroughbred horses (in Great Britain). Express racing merit as weights in pounds that the compiler believes the horse should carry in an average free handicap race.

Trotter:

A horse trained for harness racing. The horse races in trot, which is a two-beat springing gait with a suspension phase (no ground contact) between two diagonal supporting pair of legs.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agricultural University of Iceland, 311, Borgarnes, Iceland

    Dr. Thorvaldur Árnason (International Horse Breeding Consultant)

  2. International Horse Breeding Consultant, Knubbovagen 34, 74494, Morgongava, Sweden

    Dr. Thorvaldur Árnason (International Horse Breeding Consultant)

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  1. Dr. Thorvaldur Árnason
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Correspondence to Thorvaldur Árnason .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. RAMTECH LIMITED, Larkspur, CA, USA

    Robert A. Meyers

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Árnason, T. (2012). Breeding in Horses . In: Meyers, R.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3_340

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