To Start or Not to Start-A Matter of Genetics in Swedish Warmblood Horses?
Abstract: The breeding goal of the Swedish Warmblood horse (SWB) is to produce internationally competitive horses in dressage and show jumping. In the current genetic evaluation, breeding values are estimated in multiple-trait animal models where competition performance is the target trait and results from two different young horse tests serve as indicator traits. However, preselection of horses, both for young horse tests and for competitions, is not considered in the current evaluation. The overall aim of this study was to analyse the all-or-none trait start status, in competition and in young horse tests, for possible use in the genetic evaluation for SWB. All starts in young horse tests have been recorded since long (1973), whereas start status in competition is known from the year 2007 and onwards. Therefore, the studied population was restricted to SWB horses born between 2003 and 2018 that had the possibility to compete during the period from 2007 until 2022. Horses were categorised into four disciplines according to their sire's and grandsire's discipline categories, and only horses in the two major categories, dressage and jumping, were included in this study. In total, 23,125 jumping horses and 14,470 dressage horses were studied separately. Information on discipline-specific start status in show jumping or dressage competitions, young horse test (YHT) and riding horse test (RHT) was available as well as lifetime accumulated competition points, assessed gaits and jumping traits from YHT and RHT. Out of the jumping horses, 31% had participated in YHT, 10% in RHT and 56% in show jumping competition. For dressage horses, the participation rates were 35% for YHT, 11% for RHT and 34% for dressage competition. The genetic analyses were performed with threshold and linear animal models. Horses that had participated in YHT or RHT had competed to a larger extent and had a higher mean of competition points than horses that had not participated in YHT or RHT. The heritability for start status in competition was estimated using a threshold model at 0.48 for show jumping and 0.39 for dressage. Using linear models, the heritability for start status in show jumping was estimated to be 0.30 on the observable 0/1-scale and 0.47 when transformed to the underlying continuous scale. For start status in dressage, the corresponding heritability estimates were 0.20 and 0.34. Genetic correlations, estimated with linear models, were strong between start status in show jumping and jumping traits at YHT and RHT (0.78-0.93) and moderate to strong between start status in dressage competition and gait traits at YHT and RHT (0.46-0.88). The genetic correlations between start status and accumulated lifetime points in competition were strong, 0.93 for show jumping and 0.86 for dressage. Using linear models, heritability estimates for start status in young horse tests ranged from 0.07 to 0.42 on the observable scale and from 0.11 to 0.71 after transformation to the underlying continuous scale. Inclusion of start status in the breeding value estimation of competition performance affected stallion ranking somewhat and increased the accuracies of the stallions' breeding values. We conclude that start status is a heritable trait that would be possible to include in the genetic evaluation of SWB horses.
© 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Publication Date: 2025-07-25 PubMed ID: 40709645DOI: 10.1111/jbg.70005Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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The research is about the genetic evaluation of Swedish Warmblood horses (SWB) in the context of selecting horses for dressage and show jumping. The study analyzes the genetic factor of start status, which takes into account participation in young horse tests and competitions, to inform the overall genetic evaluation.
Study Overview
The study focuses on the genetic evaluation of SWB horses in regards to their ‘start status’. This term refers to the horses’ participation in competitions and young horse tests. Compatible with the breeding goal of SWB horses–to create internationally competitive dressage and show jumping horses–the researchers strived to comprehend if start status could be useful in the breeding evaluation.
- Horses within the study were born between 2003 and 2018 and had the option to partake in competitions from 2007 to 2022.
- Horses were categorized based on their sires’ and grandsires’ disciplines, focusing mainly on dressage and jumping horses.
- The researchers examined data, such as lifetime competition points and assessed traits, from young horse tests and competitions.
Research Findings
The research identified notable aspects of Swedish Warmblood horses, particularly addressing their start status and its potential for genetic evaluation.
- A proportionally larger number of horses partaking in young horse tests also competed and scored higher average competition points than those horses not participating in the tests.
- The study found that the heritability (the ability of a trait to be passed from one generation to the next) of start status in competitions was relatively high, particularly in show jumping, indicating that the propensity to participate might have a genetic component.
- There were strong genetic correlations between start status in competitions and young horse test results, meaning horses that commonly started also performed well in the test.
- The inclusion of start status in the genetic evaluation resulted in some changes to stallion rankings and increased the accuracy of these rankings.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the research concluded that the start status of a horse is indeed a heritable trait, indicating that it should be considered in the genetic evaluation of Swedish Warmblood horses. This insight could potentially improve the breeding strategy resulting in better performances in dressage and show jumping competitions.
Cite This Article
APA
Gelinder Viklund Å, Blom Y, Eriksson S.
(2025).
To Start or Not to Start-A Matter of Genetics in Swedish Warmblood Horses?
J Anim Breed Genet.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jbg.70005 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
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