Use of linear and non-linear functions to describe the growth of young sport- and race-horses born in Normandy.

The research is aimed at understanding the growth patterns of young sport and race horses born in Normandy. It seeks to establish growth standards through modelling the evolution of wither height from birth to adulthood, using both linear and non-linear models.

Objective of the Study

• The goal of this research was to set up standards for measuring and understanding the growth of different breeds of sport and race horses.
• This involved tracking the evolution of the wither height (the height from the ground to the highest point of a horse’s shoulder), from birth to adulthood.

Methodology

• 398 foals of three different breeds were regularly measured from birth to 18 months of age.
• Both linear and non-linear functions were used to describe and compare the growth patterns within each breed group.

Results

• Monomolecular, Gompertz, logistic, and cubic models accurately estimated the wither height of the three breeds during the first two years. These models proved more accurate than cubic and quadratic models.
• The logarithmic and power models were more suited to describing growth in the later stages of the period (2 to 6 years of age).
• Interestingly, the study concluded that a linear model did not align with the majority of the growth period data.

Findings

• The comparison of growth across the three breeds using these models revealed distinctive growth patterns: Race horses exhibited intense growth in their initial months, while sport horses showed more regular growth extended across their first few years of life.

In conclusion, the study indicates that the use of diverse modelling tools can provide a more nuanced understanding of growth patterns across different breeds of horses, which can consequently inform breeding and rearing practices.