Assessment of sportive longevity in Pura Raza Español dressage horses

Solé, Marina; Sánchez, M. J.; Valera, M.; Molina, A.; Azor, P. J.; Sölkner, Johann; Mészáros, Gábor

doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2017.07.007

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…A better focus on specialized jumping horses, after dropping horses that also performed in eventing and dressage, may explain the higher heritability. These findings are in line with the heritabilities estimated in several countries for jumping horses, as well as for dressage and eventing (Braam et al, 2011;Jonsson et al, 2014a;Posta et al, 2014;Seiero et al, 2016;Sole et al, 2017). In these studies, longevity was measured as the number of years in competition, except for Sole et al (2017), for whom the criterion was the number of dressage tests, independently of the time spent in competition.…”

Section: Functional Longevity Analysissupporting

confidence: 84%

“…In Sole et al (2017) and Posta et al (2014), survival analysis was used to analyze longevity, and longevity was corrected for the level of performance as in our study. In Sole et al (2017) the heritability was 0.20 for longevity in dressage competition, while in Posta et al (2014) heritability was 0.17 for longevity in jumping competition. In the other studies, survival analysis was not used.…”

Section: Functional Longevity Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The welfare and health of the horses are major concerns for riders, and adding durability and longevity in selection plans is now commonplace (Hartig et al, 2013a,b). Longevity is mostly understood as time spent in competition and measured as the number of years in competition (Braam et al, 2011;Jonsson et al, 2014a;Posta et al, 2014;Seiero et al, 2016) or the number of competition tests (Sole et al, 2017). Only Wallin et al (2000) considered actual lifespan.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genomic Correlations Between the Gaits of Young Horses Measured by Accelerometry and Functional Longevity in Jumping Competition

Dugué

Priest²,

Crichan³

et al. 2021

Front. Genet.

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Functional longevity is essential for the well-being of horses and the satisfaction of riders. Conventional selection using longevity breeding values calculated from competition results is not efficient because it takes too long to obtain reliable information. Therefore, the objective was to identify early criteria for selection. We assessed two types of early criteria: gait traits of young horses and QTLs. Thus, our aim was to estimate the genetic correlation between gait traits and longevity and to perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for longevity. Measurements of gaits by accelerometry were recorded on 1,477 show jumping horses that were 4 to 5 years old. Gait analysis provided 9 principal components describing trot, canter, and walk. Longevity estimated breeding values (EBVs) for stallions were calculated using a survival analysis of more than 900,000 years of performances by 179,448 show jumping horses born from 1981 onwards. Longevity was measured as the number of years spent in competition. Model included region and month of birth, age at first competition, year, and performance level. Longevity EBVs were deregressed to obtain weighted pseudo-performances for 1,968 stallions. Genomic data were available for 3,658 jumping horses. Seventy-eight percent of the horses measured for gaits and twenty-five percent of those measured for longevity were genotyped. A GWAS of longevity revealed no significant QTLs. Genetic parameters between each of the 9 principal components of the gait variables and longevity were evaluated with a bi-trait animal linear mixed model using single-step GBLUP analysis with the relationship matrix constructed from genomic data and genealogy (24,448 ancestors over four generations). The heritability of the gait traits varied from 0.11 to 0.44. The third principal component for trot (high lateral activity) and the first principal component for canter (high dorsoventral activity and low stride frequency) were moderately genetically correlated with higher longevity: rg = 0.38 (0.15) and 0.28 (0.13), respectively. Our study revealed that functional longevity is a polygenic trait with no major genes. We found new correlations between longevity and gait traits. Before using gait characteristics in a selection plan, these correlations need to be understood better at the biomechanical level.

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Section: Functional Longevity Analysissupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Functional Longevity Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genomic Correlations Between the Gaits of Young Horses Measured by Accelerometry and Functional Longevity in Jumping Competition

Dugué

Priest²,

Crichan³

et al. 2021

Front. Genet.

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“…All of these factors have a recognized effect on the estimates of genetic parameters. Additionally, recent studies carried on horse longevity, another functional trait linked animal fitness, have shown heritability values ranging from 0.09 to 0.31 in Danish show jumping horses [ 48 ], and 0.20 in Pura Raza Español used for dressage [ 49 ]. Longevity and lifetime fertility are generally highly correlated in livestock, since brood mares are used to give births until the end of their career.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These values indicate that horse have a different genetic potential as compared to cattle, particularly if used for sport activities like in the latter cases. Indeed, longevity in horses may depend greatly on the ability shown in sport [ 48 , 49 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics of Lifetime Reproductive Performance in Italian Heavy Draught Horse Mares

Mantovani

Folla

Pigozzi³

et al. 2020

Animals

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Our aims were to find a phenotypic variable to express mares’ lifetime reproductive performance after 6 breeding seasons (BS) in Italian Heavy Draught Horse breed (IHDH), and to estimate its heritability. At first, 1487 mares in a training dataset were used to implement and validate a set of predictive coefficients (LFR-C) or equations (LFR-E) to estimate a lifetime foaling rate (LFR) after 6 BS, i.e., the number of foals generated divided by the opportunities to do so. Then, 3033 mares in a dataset with at least 3 registered BS, was used to estimate LFR for mares with 3, 4, or 5 registered RS. This dataset contained actual (n = 1950) and estimated (n = 1443) LFR, obtained by LFR-C, and LFR-E; Arcsine transformation of LFR-C and LFR-E were also analyzed in single trait animal models to estimate heritability. Overall, the LFR showed a moderate but significant genetic variation, and the heritability of the trait was high (0.24) considering it is a fitness trait. The arcsine transformation of LFR did not show any improvement of heritability. The present study indicates the possible use of a linear LFR variable for breeding purposes in IHDH breed considering both complete and incomplete reproductive careers.

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