Horse Production and Global Breeds Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering horse breeds, registration systems, athletic disciplines, breeding technologies, health conditions, and production requirements from the lecture notes.

The Thoroughbred

A closed horse breed developed in England starting in the 1600s specifically for racing and speed, where an individual is only considered a Thoroughbred if both parents are registered in the studbook.

General Studbook

The official registry first published in 1793 containing the pedigrees of racehorses in England, which established the Thoroughbred as a closed breed.

The Jockey Club

A closed breed registry founded in 1894 that maintains the official Thoroughbred registry for Canada, the United States, and Puerto Rico.

Effective Population Size ($N_e$)

A measure of genetic diversity and the size of a breeding population; a smaller $N_e$ relative to the full population size indicates a higher degree of inbreeding.

Live Cover

A Thoroughbred breeding registration requirement stipulating that the stallion and mare must physically meet for natural mating, prohibiting artificial insemination ($\text{AI}$) and embryo transfer ($\text{ET}$).

Flat Races

Horse races without jumps, historically conducted in the 18th and 19th centuries as $2$ to $4$ mile heat races, and today ranging from $5$ to $10$ furlongs (about $1\text{ mile}$).

Steeplechase

Hurdle horse races spanning $2$ to $4.5\text{ miles}$ with $4\text{ ft }6\text{ in}$ jumps, where older-style Thoroughbreds bred for endurance perform better.

Roaring (Left Laryngeal Hemiplegia)

A pharyngeal airway condition in horses that becomes more common with increased gene pool concentration and higher inbreeding levels.

Northern Dancer

A famous Canadian-bred Thoroughbred stallion recognized as the greatest sire of the 20th century.

Warmblood Sporthorses

A group of breeds and registries created in Europe by crossing draft-type horses with Thoroughbreds and Arabians, bred specifically for performance in show jumping, dressage, and eventing.

KWPN

The Dutch Warmblood registry, structured as an open breed registry.

Trakehner

A Warmblood breed categorized as a closed breed registry, allowing registration only for offspring of previously registered parents.

Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome (WFFS)

A fatal single-gene mutation affecting newborn foals across nearly all open-breed Warmblood registries, propagated largely through extensive artificial insemination.

Criollo

A horse breed of Spanish and Portuguese heritage that is crossed with Thoroughbreds in Argentina to produce top-performing polo ponies.

Dolfina Cuartetera

A famous Argentine polo mare born February 3, 2001, who has been extensively cloned for high-level polo competition.

Equine Influenza (EI)

A viral respiratory disease that caused a major outbreak in Australia in 2007, infecting $69,000$ horses on $9,600$ premises and costing $\$571\text{ million}$ to eradicate.

Equine Viral Arteritis (EAV)

A viral infection maintained in persistent carrier stallions ($10\%$ to $70\%$ infection rate) and transmitted venereally, horizontally through respiratory secretions, or vertically causing foaling weakness or abortion.

Colic

Severe abdominal pain in horses often associated with management conditions such as stall confinement, diet changes, or lack of continuous fiber and forage intake.

Stereotypic Behaviours

Repetitive, abnormal, functionless behaviors developed by stalled horses due to unmet environmental, physical, or psychological needs.