Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-03T01:41:53.682Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Phenotypic and genetic analysis of reproductive traits in horse populations with different breeding purposes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2020

M. D. Gómez Open the ORCID record for M. D. Gómez [Opens in a new window] ,
M. J. Sánchez ,
E. Bartolomé ,
I. Cervantes ,
J. Poyato-Bonilla ,
S. Demyda-Peyrás  and
M. Valera
M. D. Gómez*
Affiliation:
Dpto. Ciencias Agroforestales, ETSIA, Universidad de Sevilla, Ctra. Utrera, Km 1, Sevilla41013, España
M. J. Sánchez
Affiliation:
Dpto. Ciencias Agroforestales, ETSIA, Universidad de Sevilla, Ctra. Utrera, Km 1, Sevilla41013, España
E. Bartolomé
Affiliation:
Dpto. Ciencias Agroforestales, ETSIA, Universidad de Sevilla, Ctra. Utrera, Km 1, Sevilla41013, España
I. Cervantes
Affiliation:
Dpto. Producción Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Avda. Puerta de Hierro s/n, Madrid28040, España
J. Poyato-Bonilla
Affiliation:
Dpto. Ciencias Agroforestales, ETSIA, Universidad de Sevilla, Ctra. Utrera, Km 1, Sevilla41013, España
S. Demyda-Peyrás
Affiliation:
Instituto de Genética Veterinaria “Ing. Fernando N. Dulout”, CONICET Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, C/60 y 118 s/n, La Plata1900, Argentina Dpto. Genética, Universidad de Córdoba, Edificio Gregor Mendel, Campus Rabanales, CN-IV Km 396a, Córdoba14071, España
M. Valera
Affiliation:
Dpto. Ciencias Agroforestales, ETSIA, Universidad de Sevilla, Ctra. Utrera, Km 1, Sevilla41013, España
*
†E-mail: pottokamdg@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

Reproductive traits have a major influence on the economic effectiveness of horse breeding. However, there is little information available. We evaluated the use of reproductive traits as selection criteria in official breeding programs to increase the reproductive efficiency of breeding studs, analysing 696 690 records from the pedigree data of eight Spanish horse populations, with different breeding purposes. The reproductive parameters studied in both sexes were age at first foaling (AFF), age at last foaling, average reproductive life and generational interval. In the females, the average interval between foaling (AIF) and interval between first and second foaling were also studied. There were clear differences between sexes and breeds, which may be due to management practices, breeding purposes and the status of the populations, rather than to differences in actual physiological conditions. Riding mares were the most precocious (AFF, 1937.64 to 2255.69 days) and had a more intensive reproductive use (AIF, 625.83 to 760.07 days), whereas sires used for meat production were the most precocious males (AFF, 1789.93 to 1999.75 days), although they had a shorter reproductive life (1564.34 to 1797.32 days). Heritabilities (0.02 to 0.42 in females and 0.04 to 0.28 in males) evidenced the genetic component of the reproductive traits, with Sport Horses having the higher average values. These results support the selection by AFF to improve reproductive aspects because of its medium–high heritability and its positive correlations with other important reproductive traits. The inclusion of the AIF is also recommended in sport populations, because this determines the length of the breaks between foaling and conditions the reproductive performance of the dams, as well as their selective intensity, genetic gain and genetic improvement. It is therefore an important economic parameter in breeding studs.

Keywords

equineheritabilitypedigreereproductionselection
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 14 , Issue 7 , July 2020 , pp. 1351 - 1361
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, WR, Brown, L, Wright, M and Wilsher, S 2007. Reproductive efficiency of Flatrace and National Hunt Thoroughbred mares and stallions in England. Equine Veterinary Journal 39, 438–445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bartolomé, E, Cervantes, I, Valera, M and Gutiérrez, JP 2011. Influence of foreign breeds on the genetic structure of the Spanish Sport Horse population. Livestock Science 142, 70–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boichard, D, Maignel, L and Verrier, É 1997. The value of using probabilities of gene origin to measure genetic variability in a population. Genetic Selection Evolution 29, 5–23.10.1186/1297-9686-29-1-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosh, KA, Powell, D, Shelton, B and Zent, W 2009. Reproductive performance measures among Thoroughbred mares in central Kentucky, during the 2004 mating season. Equine Veterinary Journal 41, 883–888.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campos, VAL, McManus, C, Fuck, BH, da Silva, LFA, Louvandini, H, Dias, LT and Teixeira, RdA 2007. Influência de fatores genéticos e ambientais sobre características reprodutivas do rebanho eqüino do Exército Brasileiro. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia 36, 16–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cervantes, I, Goyache, F, Molina, A, Valera, M and Gutiérrez, JP 2008a. Application of individual increase in inbreeding to estimate realized effective sizes from real pedigrees. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 125, 301–310.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cervantes, I, Molina, A, Goyache, F, Gutiérrez, JP and Valera, M 2008b. Population history and genetic variability in the Spanish Arab Horse assessed via pedigree analysis. Livestock Science 113, 24–33.10.1016/j.livsci.2007.02.011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cervantes, I, Pastor, JM, Gutiérrez, JP, Goyache, F and Molina, A 2011a. Computing effective population size from molecular data: the case of three rare Spanish ruminant populations. Livestock Science 138, 202–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cervantes, I, Goyache, F, Molina, A, Valera, M and Gutiérrez, JP 2011b. Estimation of effective population size from the rate of coancestry in pedigreed populations. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 128, 56–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cilek, S 2009. The survey of reproductive success in Arabian Horse Breeding from 1976–2007 at Anadolu State Farm in Turkey. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances 8, 389–396.Google Scholar
Dubois, C and Ricard, A 2007. Efficiency of past selection of the French Sport Horse: Selle Français breed and suggestions for the future. Livestock Science 112, 161–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falconer, D and McKay, T 1996. Introduction to quantitative genetics. Harlow, Essex, UK.Google Scholar
Gomez, MD, Cervantes, I, Molina, A, Medina, C and Valera, M 2009. Influence of the foreign trotter populations in the Spanish Trotter Horse assessed via pedigree analysis. Presented at the 60th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Animal Production, 24–27 August 2009, Barcelona, Spain.Google Scholar
Gómez, MD, Valera, M and Molina, A 2010. Genetic analysis of racing performance of trotter horses in Spain. Livestock Science 127, 197–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goyache, F, Gutiérrez, JP, Fernández, I, Gómez, E, Álvarez, I, Díez, J and Royo, LJ 2003. Using pedigree information to monitor genetic variability of endangered populations: the Xalda sheep breed of Asturias as an example. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 120, 95–105.10.1046/j.1439-0388.2003.00378.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gutiérrez, JP, Altarriba, J, Díaz, C, Quintanilla, R, Cañón, J and Piedrafita, J 2003. Pedigree analysis of eight Spanish beef cattle breeds. Genetics Selection Evolution 35, 43–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gutiérrez, JP, Cervantes, I and Goyache, F 2009. Improving the estimation of realized effective population sizes in farm animals. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 126, 327–332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gutierrez, JP and Goyache, F 2005. A note on ENDOG: a computer program for analyzing pedigree information. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 122, 172–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heydarpour, M, Schaeffer, LR and Yazdi, MH 2008. Influence of population structure on estimates of direct and maternal parameters. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 125, 89–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klemetsdal, G 1993. Demographic Parameters and Inbreeding in the Norwegian Trotter. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section A – Animal Science 43, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kovac, M, Groeneveld, E and Garcia-Cortés, A 2010. VCE user’s guide and reference manual version 6.03. Institute of Farm Animal Genetics, Mariensee, Germany.Google Scholar
Kuhl, J, Stock, KF, Wulf, M and Aurich, C 2015. Maternal lineage of Warmblood mares contributes to variation of gestation length and bias of foal sex ratio, PLoS ONE 10, e0139358.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langlois, B and Blouin, C 2004. Statistical analysis of some factors affecting the number of horse births in France. Reproduction Nutrition Development 44, 583–595.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langlois, B and Maheut, D 1976. Estimation de quelques paramètres démographiques du pur sang anglais en France. Annales de Génétique et de Sélection Animale 8, 315–329.10.1186/1297-9686-8-3-315CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madill, S 2002. Reproductive considerations: mare and stallion. Veterinary Clinics of North America Equine Practice 18, 591–619.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malécot, G 1948. Les mathématiques de l’Hérédité. Masson et Cie, Paris, France.Google Scholar
Meyer, K 1992. Bias and sampling covariances of estimates of variance components due to maternal effects. Genetics Selection Evolution 24, 487–509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, LHA and Allen, WR 2002. Reproductive efficiency of intensively managed Thoroughbred mares in Newmarket. Equine Veterinary Journal 34, 51–60.10.2746/042516402776181222CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moureaux, S, Verrier, É, Ricard, A and Mériaux, JC 1996. Genetic variability within French race and riding horse breeds from genealogical data and blood marker polymorphisms. Genetics Selection Evolution 28, 83–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabeva, I and Apostolov, A 2011. Longevity and life reproductive efficiency in Arabian broodmares. Archiva Zootechnica 14, 66–74.Google Scholar
Sairanen, J, Nivola, K, Katila, T, Virtala, AM and Ojala, M 2009. Effects of inbreeding and other genetic components on equine fertility. Animal 3, 1662–1672.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SAS Institute Incorporated 2011. SAS v9.3. SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA.Google Scholar
Schmidt, K, Deichsel, K, de Oliveira, RA, Aurich, J, Ille, N and Aurich, C 2017. Effects of environmental temperature and season on hair coat characteristics, physiologic and reproductive parameters in Shetland pony stallions. Theriogenology 97, 170–178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scoggin, CF 2015. Not just a number: effect of age on fertility, pregnancy and offspring vigour in thoroughbred brood-mares. Reproduction Fertility and Development 27, 872–879.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sharma, S, Dhaliwal, GS and Dadarwal, D 2010. Reproductive efficiency of Thoroughbred mares under Indian subtropical conditions: a retrospective survey over 7 years. Animal Reproduction Science 117, 241–248.10.1016/j.anireprosci.2009.05.011CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh, MK, Yadav, MP and Mehta, NT 2002. Breed characteristics of Marwari and Kathiawari horses. Indian Journal of Animal Science 72, 319–323.Google Scholar
Solé, M, Valera, M, Gómez, MD, Cervantes, I and Fernández, J 2013. Implementation of optimum contributions selection in endangered local breeds: the case of the Menorca Horse population. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 130, 218–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Solé, M, Sánchez, MJ, Valera, M, Molina, A and Demyda-Peyerás, S 2016. Reproductive parameters associated with genetic improvement are influenced by breed and selection intensity in Spanish horse breeds. Presented at the 18th International Congress on Animal Reproduction, 26–30 June 2016, Le Vinci in Tours, France.Google Scholar
Solé, M, Sánchez, MJ, Valera, M, Molina, A, Azor, PJ, Sölkner, J and Mészáros, G 2017a. Assessment of sportive longevity in Pura Raza Español dressage horses. Livestock Science 203, 69–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solé, M, Valera, M, Gómez, MD, Sölkner, J, Molina, A and Mészáros, G 2017b. Heritability and factors associated with number of harness race starts in the Spanish Trotter horse population. Equine Veterinary Journal 49, 288–293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
StatSoft Incorporated 2014. STATISTICA (data analysis software system) v12.0. Tulsa, US.Google Scholar
Taveira, R and Silveira da Mota, M 2007. Genetic and quantitative evaluation of breeding traits in Thoroughbred mares. Revista Electrónica de Veterinaria 8, 1–11.Google Scholar
Valera, M, Molina, A, Gutiérrez, JP, Gómez, J and Goyache, F 2005. Pedigree analysis in the Andalusian horse: population structure genetic variability and influence of the Carthusian strain. Livestock Production Science 95, 57–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, AJ 2008. Why h2 does not always equal VA/VP? Journal of Evolutionary Biology 21, 647–650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolc, A, Torzynski, G and Szwaczkowski, T 2009. Genetic effects on reproductive traits in Warmblood horses. Canadian Journal of Animal Sciences 89, 215–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamashita, J, Oki, H, Hasegawa, T, Honda, T and Nomura, T 2010. Demographic analysis of breeding structure in Japanese thoroughbred population. Journal of Equine Science 21, 11–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Gómez et al. supplementary material

Table S1

Download Gómez et al. supplementary material(File)
File 37.4 KB