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Abstract
Literature provides indications that the personality and temperament of a horse are sufficiently genetically determined. This background was the impetus to continue collecting phenotypic information on the temperament in the South Tyrolean Haflinger horses, not only to have marketing tools but also to be able to estimate genetic parameters for a future genetic evaluation. The latter should open the possibility to include temperament traits in the breeding goal. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to consider for the very first-time phenotypic information from character testing for estimating genetic parameters for temperament in Haflinger horses. For the present study, data from routine character testing of 210 South Tyrolean Haflinger mares between 2019 and 2021 were considered. A multivariate estimation of heritability (h2) and genetic correlations (r) was carried out for the criteria ‘Interest’, ‘Activity’ and ‘Excitement’. In addition, univariate and bivariate estimation runs were also carried out. The pedigree-based heritability for the behavioural trait Interest was lowest with 0.07 and a standard error of ±0.04. For the other two criteria, Activity and Excitement, h2 was 0.19 ± 0.05 and 0.21 ± 0.04, respectively. The genetic correlation between Interest and Activity and between Interest and Excitement was in both cases negative with −0.52 and −0.61, respectively while the genetic correlation between Excitement and Activity was positive (0.99). Results of the present study highlight the potential of considering temperament traits in breeding of Haflinger horses.
BULLETED HIGHLIGHTS
Character testing in Haflinger horses provided phenotypic data for estimating heritability for selected temperament traits.
Heritability for the temperament traits describing interest, activity, and excitement in Haflinger horses were low to moderate.
In future, a larger number of tested animals is required for obtaining more robust data for genetic parameters and implementation of a routine genetic evaluation.
Acknowledgements
The authors would thank all horse breeders who participated in the character testing. Further the authors would like to thank Luca Marini and Michael Gruber form the South Tyrolean Haflinger Breeding Association for providing the data form the stud book and for sustaining the project.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Ethical approval
The experimental and notification procedures were carried out in compliance with Directive 86/609/EEC.
Data availability statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, [TZ]. The data are not publicly available due to restrictions.