Morphological description of the Lipizzan horse population

Abstract

Morphological measurements of Lipizzan horses from state-owned studs in seven countries in Central and South-east Europe (Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) were recorded to characterise the base population of Lipizzan horse breeding. A total of 37 distance and angular measures were taken from 368 breeding mares and 145 stallions from eight studs (one stud from each country with the exception of Romania, where horses were measured at two studs). Significant differences between studs were found for most of the traits (34 of 37 for mares, 29 of 37 for stallions). Repeatabilities of measurements (based on two repetitions in 100 horses) varied from 0.24 to 0.95. Some of the measurements most frequently taken in horse breeding showed high repeatabilities (0.95 for height at withers and cannon bone circumference), but chest girth showed a rather low repeatability of 0.45. Heritabilites of the traits varied from 0.00 to 0.55. Estimates were comparable to literature results but due to the small data set (only the 368 mares were used for analysis) they were partly inconsistent. Multivariate analyses were applied separately to mares and stallions. Length of neck, cannon bone circumference, and width of thorax were the most important traits for discriminating studs for mares; width of thurls, chest circumference, and width of hips were important for stallions. Mahalanobis distances based on all 37 measurements were significant for pairwise comparison of all studs. An analysis of the differences of sire lines showed no significance. The results reflect at least partially different breeding goals.

Introduction

The Lipizzan is one of the oldest European horse breeds. Its foundation was laid by the Austrian Archduke Charles II who established a stud at ‘Doerffel Lipizza’, now Lipica in Slovenia, in 1580. The purpose of this stud was to breed horses for show and parade at the Imperial Court in Vienna. This breeding goal did not change for several centuries and even today, almost a century after the fall of the Austro–Hungarian Empire, Lipizzan horses attract many visitors with their performances at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. In the 1800s several centres of Lipizzan horse breeding were established, mostly in different parts of the Austro–Hungarian Empire, following evacuation of the original stud during the Napoleonic as well as during the First and Second World Wars (Oulehla et al., 1986; Nürnberg, 1998). Currently, Lipizzan horses are kept in state-owned studs in Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Romania, Bosnia–Herzegovina and Yugoslavia, as well as by private owners all over the world. Still, the total number of horses is only between 2000 and 3000. Considering this low number and the long history of breeding in a more or less closed population the population can be considered genetically small.

In an international effort, a large portion of the population is being examined for genetic variability and population structure using molecular and pedigree information. Part of this characterisation of the breed involves the morphometric study of horses from eight different state-owned studs in seven countries. The aim of this paper is to present the means and differences for these studs of 37 body measurements following a standard procedure developed by Oulehla (1996). Repeatabilities and heritabilities were estimated to evaluate the genetic foundation of these body characteristics. The different breeding goals followed by the various studs should be reflected by differences in the general appearance of horses. Multivariate statistical methods were applied to classify such differences. Using these methods was possible to evaluate the most important characteristics separating the subpopulations defined by studs. Multivariate methods were also applied to sire lines.