Page 25 - NMHBA Summer 2017

increase its ability to generate offspring, that is going to decrease the genetic pool that is reproducing. Additionally, when you increase inbreeding and reduce diversity, you increase the incidence of undesirable genes making an appearance.”
The breeding industry has been denying Mother Nature her natural course of events for a very long time. Nature says foals shouldn’t be born until winter is gone and the sun shines most of the day. Well, we figured out that the length of the time of light in the day influences a mare’s breeding cycle. But we didn’t want babies born in June, so we decided to preempt nature by bringing mares into the barn and turning on as many lights as possible. Soaring electricity bills? Who cares! Those mares thought they’d found an endless summer.
We certainly disrupted nature with multiple embryos. Some mares produce 20 or more foals by the time they’re 15. And what’s the natural course of a stallion’s life? He’s born. He competes. He breeds. He dies. After that, it’s up to his offspring to continue his genetic influence; with each succeeding generation increasing the level
of genetic diversity. Instead, we’ve opted to continue putting that deceased stallion’s lines back into the gene pool ad infinitum.
Dr. McQue also said something that’s impossible for many, if not most, to swallow. “Breeders should consider stepping back,” she said, “from popular sires and ‘top’ bloodlines...and add diversity back into their breeding programs by choosing individuals that have complementary traits that can serve as an outcross.
“It’s important to have this scientific evidence that demonstrates inbreeding
is happening and we can see it in the genomes. And it is increasing over time. I hope it (the scientific information) gets some people to think harder about the breeding choices they make.”
As a result of the study’s input, as well as feedback from the membership, the AQHA stepped back into the arena of frozen semen during the March, 2015, convention. A new rule was approved that affects ONLY those horses born in 2015 or later. The rule states that sperm, embryos, and oocytes from foals born in 2015 or after can only be used for two calendar years following that horse’s death or sterilization.
The rule obviously cuts into the profits derived from the unlimited use of frozen semen, embryos or oocytes but, on the long-reaching positive side, it should promote more responsible breeding practices. In turn, those more responsible practices should serve to broaden the Quarter Horse gene pool. As with everything else, research and the passage of time will bring in the final verdict.
Remember: The new rule, which is now in its second year, has no effect on horses born prior to 2015.
As expected, some breeders, mare owners and stallion owners feel the rule change creates an uneven playing field; giving the pre-2015 horses a decided advantage over those that fall into the 2015 or later category. But, like parentage verification and DNA testing, a beginning point had to be determined. The playing field will become level again after a very few years.
In the meantime, we can accept the challenge to reach out for greater diversity and, in the process, create new families and new lines that will shape the future of the Quarter Horse industry.
“Any time we take a single individual and increase its ability to generate offspring, that is going to decrease the genetic pool that is reproducing.”
SUMMER 2017 23