Analysis of several factors of variation of gestation loss in breeding mares.
Abstract: The files for ultrasound diagnosis of gestating mares belonging to the French equine herd recorded for 3 consecutive years were joined with the files for foal birth of these same mares, allowing the statistical analysis of factors of pregnancy loss. For 28 872 positive diagnoses of gestation, 2898 losses were recorded, that is, a global rate of gestation interruption of 9.12%. The etiology of these interruptions is mainly extrinsic: the year and month of insemination, as well as region for climatic reasons. The intrinsic causes that are implicated are breed of the father (heavy breeds except the hypermetric ones lose fewer pregnancies than warm-blooded breeds), age of the mother (losses are lower in mares of 7 to 10 years of age) and status (mares with foals have fewer pregnancy losses than mares not having foaled the previous year), as well as fetuses with consanguinity (when this increases, the pregnancy losses increase as well). However, the additive genetic effect is extremely low; it corresponds to heritability below 5% and few effects of the environment, common to the offspring of the same mare, were identified. This therefore gives little hope of being able to select against the 'gestation loss' trait.
Publication Date: 2012-08-09 PubMed ID: 23031384DOI: 10.1017/S1751731112001164Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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The research analyzed various factors affecting horse pregnancy loss, using ultrasound diagnosis files of mares in France for 3 consecutive years. The study identified both internal and external factors related to pregnancy loss, but found a low heritability rate of less than 5% in this trait, suggesting difficulty in selective breeding to prevent pregnancy loss.
Objective and Methodology
- The main aim of this study was to investigate the different factors contributing to pregnancy loss in mares.
- The researchers combined ultrasound diagnosis files of mares that were gestating for three years with the files of foal birth of these mares.
- A total of 28,872 gestations were included in the study, observing 2,898 pregnancy losses, providing a gestation interruption rate of around 9.12%.
Findings
- External factors contributing to the loss of pregnancy were the year and month of insemination, and the climatic conditions of the region.
- Internal or intrinsic factors contributing to pregnancy loss included breed of the father (heavier breeds had fewer pregnancy losses than the warm-blooded breeds), age of the mare (7 to 10 years had fewer losses), and the reproductive status of the mare (mares who had foaled less times lost fewer pregnancies).
- The likelihood of pregnancy loss increased with increased inbreeding or consanguinity.
Conclusions and Implications
- The research indicated a very low additive genetic effect, corresponding to a heritability below 5%. This suggests that the traits contributing to pregnancy loss are not strongly inherited.
- There were few identified environmental factors common to the offspring of the same mare, making it challenging to control these factors to reduce the risk of pregnancy loss.
- The study concluded that there is little hope of preventing gestation loss through selective breeding due to the very low heritability of the trait.
This study provided an insight into the complexity of gestation loss in horses, highlighting the role of multiple internal and external factors in this phenomenon. However, with the low heritability of the trait, the study also accentuated the challenges in preventing pregnancy loss in mares through selective breeding strategies.
Cite This Article
APA
Langlois B, Blouin C, Chaffaux S.
(2012).
Analysis of several factors of variation of gestation loss in breeding mares.
Animal, 6(12), 1925-1930.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731112001164 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- INRA-CRJ, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas Cedex, France. bertrand.langlois@jouy.inra.fr
MeSH Terms
- Abortion, Veterinary / epidemiology
- Abortion, Veterinary / etiology
- Abortion, Veterinary / genetics
- Age Factors
- Animals
- Embryo Loss / epidemiology
- Embryo Loss / etiology
- Embryo Loss / genetics
- Embryo Loss / veterinary
- Female
- Fetal Death / epidemiology
- Fetal Death / etiology
- Fetal Death / genetics
- Fetal Death / veterinary
- France / epidemiology
- Geography
- Horse Diseases / epidemiology
- Horse Diseases / etiology
- Horse Diseases / genetics
- Horses
- Inbreeding
- Incidence
- Logistic Models
- Odds Ratio
- Parity
- Pregnancy
- Pregnancy Outcome / veterinary
- Risk Factors
- Seasons
Citations
This article has been cited 3 times.- Cooper CJ, Arroyo LG, Pearl DL, Hewson J, Lillie BN. Survey of the equine broodmare industry, abortion, and equine herpesvirus-1 vaccination in Ontario. Can Vet J 2021 Feb;62(2):124-132.
- Smith SP, Phillips JB, Johnson ML, Abbot P, Capra JA, Rokas A. Genome-wide association analysis uncovers variants for reproductive variation across dog breeds and links to domestication. Evol Med Public Health 2019;2019(1):93-103.
- Sabbagh M, Danvy S, Ricard A. Genetic and environmental analysis of dystocia and stillbirths in draft horses. Animal 2014 Feb;8(2):184-91.
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