Maternal effect on sports performance traits in horses

Abstract

The aim of the study was to estimate the direct additive genetic effect and the additive maternal effect on the level of traits estimated during the Polish Jumping Championships for Young Horses. The investigations involved 541 stallions and 353 mares, which in total started in the Championships 1232 times. Variance and covariance components were estimated using the Gibbs sampling method. Heritability (h<sup>2</sup>) and repeatability (r<sup>2</sup>) coefficients as well as maternal effects (m<sup>2</sup>) were calculated for 7 sports performance traits. There was an additive maternal effect, ranging from 0.11 to 0.39, on the level of traits assessed based on achieved scores. The effect was particularly high in the case of traits the level of which was determined by the animal organism performance and stress resistance. It was also noted that the value of the maternal effect in some traits was similar or higher than the coefficient of heritability, which may indicate a high effect of the mare’s specific environment in determining sport predispositions in the offspring. There is a need to analyse the cause of trait variability in other equestrian disciplines.

The effects of dried grape pomace supplementation on biochemical blood serum indicators and digestibility of nutrients in horses

“…Grape pomace bioactive substances seem to be a promising feed ration component because of their positive effect on growth performance, total apparent digestibility and potentially better nutrient utilisation from feed rations without negative effects on animal health (Galik et al 2019). As Somogyvari et al (2018) and Prochniak et al (2019) reported, sport horses should be used as an optimal representative model in digestibility trials with horses. Currently, there is only limited information about feeding grape pomace to horses.…”

Maternal effect on first‐year growth of Hokkaido native foals kept outdoors all year round

“…Another reason might be related to the maternal effects. Próchniak et al (2019) have reported that the maternal effects influence the performance of horse sports. In this study, the maternal effects on BW and HW at all ages and HG at 0–2 months of age were moderate.…”

“…Pr ochniak et al (2019) have reported that the T A B L E 8 Results of factor analysis of birth cannon circumference and the estimated cannon circumference Note: S is sex (effect of colt); BD is birth date; W is weight of mare; IC is inbreeding coefficient; σ 2 uD is the effect of dam; σ 2 uS is the effect of sire; σ 2 uY is the effect of the birth year; σ 2 uA is the effect of dam age; and σ 2 e is the residual effect.…”

Mitochondrial DNA Variation Contributes to the Aptitude for Dressage and Show Jumping Ability in the Holstein Horse Breed

“…However, there are some studies that statistically examined the influence of maternal lineages on sport performance. Polish jumping breeds and their performance during the three-day Polish Championships for Young Horses were studied by the authors of [25]. The maternal impact, defined as the proportion of the total variance explained by the maternal additive genetic variance, was high for all traits (jumping style score, penalty score for each day, and overall rating), ranging from 0.11 to 0.39.…”