Population genetic parameters and phenotypic trends based on some performance tests data of native Gidran broodmares

Abstract

Body measurement and some conformation data recorded in the national breeding mare performance test of the Hungarian Association of Gidran Horse Breeders were processed. The initial database contained the data of the entire Hungarian active (living) breeding mare stock (N = 293), which were born between 1994-2016 and were offspring of 44 breeding stallions. During the study, eight traits - height at withers measured with stick and tape (HWS, HWT), chest girth (CHG), cannon circumference (left fore/front) (CAC), pedigree score (PES), conformation score (COS), movement score (MOS), total score (TOS) - were evaluated. One- and multi-trait analysis of variance (GLM) and weighted linear regression analysis were used to process the data. The corrected mean values (± SE) of the examined traits were as follows: HWS 161.6 ± 0.4 cm, HWT 169.6 ± 0.5 cm, CHG 188.4 ± 0.7 cm, CAC 19.9 ± 0.1 cm, PES 29.1 ± 0.3 points, COS 72.8 ± 0.5 points, MOS 40.5 ± 0.4 points, TOS 142.4 ± 0.7 points. The heritability of HWS, HWT, COS and TOS was moderate and high (0.37-0.47), CHG and CAC proved to be moderate (0.29-0.31), while low h2 values were estimated for MOS (0.20). In the case of body measurements, moderate, decreasing trends (b = -0.25, -0.33, -0.35 and -0.08 cm/year, respectively; P < 0.01), for the other traits while stagnant (NS) phenotypic trends were observed. It can be concluded that the average body measurements as well as the results of the other examined traits for the Gidran breeding mares did not change essentially over time.

Keywords

• gidran
• brood mare
• performance test
• heritability
• breeding value
• trends