Estimation of phenotypic variability of body measurements in Lipizzan mares

• Published in: Biotechnology in animal husbandry Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 399 - 408
• Main Authors: Rogic, Biljana, Vazic, Bozo, Ravic, Ivica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute for Animal Husbandry, Belgrade 2019
• Subjects: correlation; mare families; morphological measures; stud vučijak
• ISSN: 1450-9156; 2217-7140
• DOI: 10.2298/BAH1904399R

The aim of this work was a phenotypic description of the mare families of a
Lipizzan horse breed from stud Vucijak. A total of 31 mares were measured,
for every animal 28 measures were recorded. The mares are distributed by
mare families in the following: Sana (3), Lipa (3), Bregava (3), Cremica
(3), Ukrina (3), Visla (2), Neretva (3), Pliva (1), Drina (2), Sutjeska (2),
Sitnica (1), Janja (2) and Sava. Simple analysis of variance was done to
determine the difference in the morphological measures between mare
families. Also, correlation between 28 measures was done. This study
revealed phenotypic uniformity between mare families. Of the 28 measures
recorded, a statistically significant difference was identified only for the
length of cannon (front leg). The longest average length of the cannon
(front leg) had at Sana (24.67 cm), and the shortest at Bregava (19.00 cm).
The correlation ranged from slightly negative to highly positive with
correlation coefficients from -0.465 to 0.779. Significant and highly
significant correlation with height, length and depth was found in mare
measures. The body shape of the mare families has a rectangular, which is in
accordance with the Lipizzan horses from other stud in Europe. Also, the
study revealed that mares from Vucijak are smaller than mares from other
stud, which is in accordance with the breeding goals.
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