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Sustainable horse breeding
Over the last few decades, the role of horses in society has shifted from farm work to mostly sports and hobby. Nowadays, societal concerns of horses are related to ethics, cultural values, genetic diversity, genetic health and animal welfare.
Sustainable management of horses is a top priority in the horse breeding sector. It’s important to have healthy and efficient animals with improved animal welfare. The ‘Behouden Paard’ project aims to support the 30+ horse studbooks in the Netherlands by developing a genetic management programme so they can manage their horses in a sustainable manner. Via the programme, studbook keepers should be able to find an optimal balance between 1) preserving genetic diversity, 2) improving the health and welfare via selection, and 3) selection for appearance and performance. The programme should be tailored to meet the specific requirements and situation of the different studbooks.
“Information about the genetic health status of the studbook is required as input for the programme,” says Bart Ducro, assistant professor at the Animal Breeding and Genomics group (ABG). “Therefore, for each studbook we will make a full inventory containing information about the genetic diversity and health risks of the breed. For the horse breeds with genetic material in the genebank, the value of the material for the current population will be analysed, and we will also analyse which families/animals in the current population are underrepresented in the genebank.”
The ‘Behouden Paard’ project will provide definite answers about the added value of using genomics to determine the genetic diversity compared to using studbook registrations. Genomics will also be used to detect harmful mutations in several studbooks, as an additional application of the technology. The support of the studbooks will also consist of training in order to learn how to work with the genetic management programme. The final aim of the project is to improve the current and future genetic health and welfare of the horses.
The Friesian Advocate podcast
Bart Ducro and Marije Steensma from Wageningen University & Research recently
joined the Fenway Foundation for Friesian Horses podcast to talk about their research ‘Conservation of the Friesian horse breed’. They covered a wide range of topics, such as the genetic health issues in the breed, the current genetic diversity in the population, and outcrossing possibilities and challenges.